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COPXKGHT DEPOSni 



FROM 



CAPE COD 



DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 



J. MILTON MACKIE, 

AUTHOR OF "C08A8 DE E8PANA," ETC. 



' Toward the Sun!" 

Old Motto. 



NEW YORK: 

G. P. PUTNAM, 441 BROADWAY, 

1864. 



// 



/r,A^^7 






Entered, according to Act ol' Congress, in the year 1SG4, by 

G. P. PUTNAM, 

In tho Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New Torli. 



Z /^ 2,^1- 



JOHN' !•'. TROW, 

Prfnter and Stf.reotyper, 

50 Grccuc Street. 



PRE F A C E. 



^ I ^IlESE sketches of travel were written before 
■^ the breaking out of the present rebellion 
in the Southern States ; but as, on the occurrence 
of this event, letters very properly yielded to 
arms, they were withheld from publication. 

Now, however, wjien the public mind is turn- 
ing to books for momentary relief from the long- 
drawn story of battles and campaigns, it may not 
be ill-timed to give to the press an account of 
a pleasure journey, made, in part, through the 
Southern States ; and a portion of which may 
serve as a memento of the happy days — not soon 
to returji, I fear — when there existed between the 
inhabitants of the Northern and Southern sec- 
tions of the country a free interchange of ser- 
vices and hospitalities. 

It is, indeed, the great business of the nation, 



4 PREFA CE. 

at the present crisis, to bring back to the Union 
by force of arms its erring, misgnided members ; 
but, while we of the North are intent on subdu- 
ing them, there is a satisfaction in showing that 
we neither hate nor despise them ; and I am 
happy to contribute my humble mite in proof 
that we cherish pleasant reminiscences of our 
former friendship, and shall be ready, on the res- 
toration of peace, to give to the returning States 
every right and privilege consistent with the 
safety, dignity, and welfare of the united re- 
public. 

Great Barrington, Mass., April., 1864. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE 

I. — The Start V 

II. — Washington 10 

III. — The Virginia Springs 20 

rV. — Five Unprotected Ladies 33 

V. — The Warm Springs 42 

VI. — The White Sulphur CI 

VII. — Through Virginia and Carolina 86 

VIII. — Charleston 93 

IX. — Savannah 110 

X. — A Georgia Railway 123 

XI. — Down the Alabama 131 

XII.— Mobile 138 

XIII. — The Lower Mississippi 152 

XIV.— New Orleans 156 

XV. — Lake Pontchartrain 169 

XVI. — Up the Mississippi 1*72 

XVII. — A Sugar Plantation 1*79 

XVIII.— A Western Hotel 189 

XIX. — From New Orleans to Havana 209 

XX.— A Havana Hotel 219 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAP. PAGE 

XXI.— Mt Fikst Volante 232 

XXII.— Dolce Far Niente 237 

XXIII.— The Paseo Tacon 247 

XXIV.— Church and Opera 253 

XXV. — Oranges and the Quays 260 

XXVI.— The Cerro 26T 

XXVII.— Excursions 2*72 

XXVIII.— A Cudan Steamer 283 

XXIX.— Fighting Cocks 292 

XXX.— A Matanzas Fonda 297 

XXXI.— The Cumbre 803 

XXXII.— A Cuban Railway 311 

XXXIII. — Nassau — A Winter Newport 318 

XXXIV. — Santa Cruz and its Freedsien 349 

XXXV.— St. Thomas 376 

XXXVI.— The Bermudas 385 

XXXVII.— Cape Cod 396 



CHAPTER I. 

The Start. 

^^ 'Wf^ will go a little nearer to the sun," said 
T T I to the gentle one by my side, the morn- 
ing after marriage — and, at the same time, looking 
vacantly enough at a huge porcelain stove, across the 
room, an heirloom of a once-noted Puritan. 

" For the stove," I went on soliloquizing, " the 
stove is an invention the mother of which — not a 
doubt of it — was necessity. Nor is your furnace 
any other contrivance than a poor imitation of 
that great subterranean fire we do not much like to 
think of. And, finally, to live by hickory through 
this Northern winter, would realize, at least, as great 
an impossibility as a small forest brought to Dunsi- 
nane. My dear, 'tis better we set oflf toward the 
sun. 

" By the next train ? " was her soft, consenting 
reply. 



8 TO DIXIE AND THE TliOPICS. 

" By the doves, rather, at once. Cupid, put in 
the doves ! " 

" And, boy," said I — seeing that everything had 
been nicely packed in, and we two happy mortals 
were " all aboard " — " boy, swing your torch ! " 

Had the doves been horses, how their hoofs 
would have resounded as they went down the frozen, 
icy road ! Every hair in my head, and buffalo, bris- 
tled with electricity. Every point of everything that 
had a point was converted, for the time being, into a 
small lightning rod. Crack went the whip ; and, in- 
deed, everything cracked. The ice cracked, till it 
groaned ; the snow, till it crackled. The white hills 
looked as though they could be broken into pieces 
as easily as pipetails. All nature snapped, and was 
almost snappish — ourselves excepted, because we 
were going toward the sun, you see. Old Boreas, 
too, I will take out of that category, Avho was, in- 
deed, in his element, and rode gayly on the ends of 
the horsetails — that is to say, on the wings of the 
doves. Young Jack Frost, also, seated only too 
firmly astride my mustache, with arms akimbo, was 
as meriy as ever was Puck, or Santa Claus. It was, 
truly, the very morning of all the winter when the 
polar bear — if he ever did such a thing — would be 
sure to put his paws in his mouth, to keep them from 
freezing. And if Samson, 1 could but say to my 



THE START. 9 

wife, had only selected this day for setting firebrands 
to the tails of the foxes, it would have been, indeed, 
a comfort to them, and just the thing they wanted. 

We reached New York, at last, in safety — thanks 
to the prairie bufialo for the use of his skin. But 
during the last half hour of the drive, I remember 
trying to say, in a hoarse whisper, to my companion : 

" My dear, I am the happiest man this side 
heaven ; only, if you have any intention, during the 
coverture, to box my ears for me, I wish you would 
do it now. The tingling might not be so bad as the 
frost-bite." 

The reply Avas a smile from out the furs, as radi- 
ant and as soft as the aurora Avhich flashes athwart 
the gloom of night within the cu'cle of the pole. 
And, ere it had entirely faded, we descended at the 

House. 

i* 



CHAPTER II. 

Washington. 

ARRIVED at Washington, the Mecca of our 
politicians, their wives, and daughters, I was 
glad to find a half-new hotel ; though not surprised to 
observe that its timbers shook a little under my feet, 
as I ascended to the story next to heaven. Crowds 
of fine ladies and gentlemen were encountered on 
the stairway, together with a fellow having a bag 
and long rope in his hand, apparently going up to 
hang and bag somebody. 

The stairway of the hotel — if I may stop on it 
long enough to add one observation more — was, as I 
afterward remarked, rather a favorite j^lace with the 
young ladies from certain sections of the country, 
for receiving the attentions of theii* admirers ; proba- 
bly on account of its being a little less exposed to 
tlie glare of the gaslights than were the parlors. 
At any rate, I noticed a young belle from Kentucky, 



WASHINGTON. 11 

and one that rang as loud, as any other in the house, 
receiving the homage of an M. C, while sitting, her- 
self, in all her graces and jiaraphernalia, on the steps. 

The new chambers had a neat look ; yet no ward- 
robe or closet was anywhere visible, nor even so 
much as a peg to hang a hat on.. There was a mar- 
ble wash basin ; but the Avater was of the color of 
snuif. Silver-plated bell knobs there were, though 
nobody came at the ringing. Hot water seemed to 
be an impossibility ; and, indeed, it was self-evident 
that I was here to be monarch of aU I surveyed, and 
of nothing more. However, if one attain to gentil- 
ity in Washington, he ought to be willing to dis- 
pense with a little comfort. 

After a hasty survey of the premises, and a no 
less hasty toilet — for it was late in the evening — I 
descended to the supper room, Avhcre I found a large 
company of well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, but a 
set of waiters looking, at the end of their day's 
work, not much cleaner than their table covers. One 
of them, after some little delay, was engaged to 
bring me stewed oysters. He brought me two table- 
spoonfuls. I called twice for the salt, and as many 
times for the pepper ; though the salt, when I got it, 
had begun to lose its savor, and the pepper had been 
made from buckwheat hulls. And no sooner was 
any dish or castor placed before me, than it was ab- 



12 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

stracted by some prowling, pilfering waiter. While 
I was turning my liead, it was gone. However, in 
justice to the menials, I hasten to add, that the next 
day, after having received their fees, they were very 
attentive ; so much so that, at breakfast, one of them 
politely asked if he should open my boiled egg for 
me. Had I given him another dollai', he would have 
offered, no doubt, to feed me with a spoon. 

The greater part of the guests appeared to be 
worthy, respectable people, who had come up from 
the provincial towns where they had been living in 
quiet all their days, and were now committing, in a 
visit to the capital, their first great indiscretion. 
Where I starved, they supped w^ell ; and altogether 
better than they " hopped " afterward. For, while 
some of the waltzing was good enough, I could but 
observe that only a few of the ladies knew how to 
Avalk, and fewer of the gentlemen how to stand stiU. 
It was as if a person should undertake to read be- 
fore having learned his letters. 

Soon satisfied with both seeing and hearing, I 
retired from the scene to enjoy a good night's rest ; 
but, at the end of a couple of hours or more, I Avas 
waked by a blundering porter, who, when asked 
what he wanted, replied : 

" Are you going by the early train, sir ? " 

" No, you scoundrel ! " 



WASHINGTON. IZ 

" All right, sir," continued the fellov/, in a tone 
of voice equally complacent and unfeeling. 

" All wrong ! " I muttered to myself, as, turning 
on my side, I endeavored to go to sleep again. 

The next morning, I observed that the unsocial 
French custom of helping out the breakfast with 
newspapers instead of chitchat, had become fully 
established here. The members of Congress were 
intently reading the reports of their speeches ; the 
ladies were looking through the penny papers to see 
what the letter Avriters said of the belles of Wash- 
ington ; while opposite me sat a couple of newly 
wedded lovers solacing themselves each with a copy 
of the NcAV York Herald. But there were some ex- 
ceptions to the prevailing silence, not to say morose- 
ness, of the company at table ; and one of the pretti- 
est young ladies in the house talked loud enough to 
distui'b all readers not gifted with considerable pow- 
ers of abstraction. This high-toned style of conver- 
sation is, indeed, common enough in mixed company, 
the habit being unconsciously formed by many even 
of our handsomest and most agreeable ladies, in con- 
sequence, it may be, of their being obliged every 
night to elevate their voices high enough to be heard 
, in crowded balls and parties. Surroimded by a circle 
of admirers two or three deep, the young miss gives 
tongue with all her might, in order that she may be 



14 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

heard by the entii'e croAvd ; and if she be overheard, 
also, by some of her rivals, so much the better. The 
noise is supposed to give her consequence. Indeed, 
the merit of a low voice in woman would seem to be 
in danger of being lo»t sight of in a society where, 
the more beautiful the belle, the louder her scream. 
At this rate, our young ladies will soon have to go to 
parties with small speaking-trumpets in their pockets. 
At dinner, it was itself an entertainment to see 
in what fashion some of our Congressmen, the great 
politicans, and stump orators of the country, dine. 
The first thing done by a certain class of the men 
sent up to Washington to represent their constitu- 
ents, and do as they would do themselves, is, after 
taking seats at table, to thrust their liands into the 
adjacent dishes of nuts, and lay down a handful of 
them by the side of their plates. In altogether a 
greater hurry to get at the end of the dinner than 
they usually are to arrive at that of their speeches, 
these lawmakers skip either soup or fish, or both, 
and plunge at once into the medlas res, the thick of 
the eating. Even there, however, they make short 
work of it. Before a quiet man has tasted his soup, 
and gradually worked his way througli a small plate 
of fish, these energetic feeders are calling loudly for 
almonds and raisins. But the dessert once reached, 
all their hurry seemed to be over. They ate pie and 



WASHINGTON. 15 

pecan nuts by the half hour, and so leisurely, that 
one Avho had gone deliberately through all the 
courses, came out neck and neck Avith them at the 
coffee. Yet were they not quite satisfied ; but many 
of the ladies left the table Avith either an apple or an 
orange in hand, while some of the gentlemen's pock- 
ets were half filled with various gimcracks. These 
sweets taken from the table are generally supposed 
to go to the small children, the babes in the nursery. 
They must fare well — the little fellows ! And, in- 
deed, I remember once hearing of a lady who said 
she always stopped at a certain hotel in New York, 
because there were so many nice things on the table 
for the dessert, that she was able to send home every 
week such a love of a package to the children. 

On the whole, the crowd of guests appeared to 
be well entertained ; and evidently thought it a fine 
thing to visit Washington at the height of the sea- 
son, and be lodged in this great caravansary. To be 
sure, a person of quiet habits might be tempted to 
say that the hotel seemed to him to be full of boots, 
and gentlemen in them, who appeared to estimate the 
degree of their personal consideration by that of the 
noise made by their heels. But by far the greater 
number of persons were evidently living on the ex- 
citement of being in a crowd, and found the confu- 
sion and hurly-burly as entertaining as it is at the 



16 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

menagerie when the lion roars, tlie donkey brays, the 
horse lauglis, the elephant sneezes, and the monkey 
hangs by tlie tail, all at the same time. What mat- 
ters it if they have a room at the top of the house, 
containing one window and a cracked looking-glass, 
a table on three legs, and a rocking chair tied np 
with red tape and twine ends — Avhat of it, so long as 
they sit down to dinner every day in company with 
a thousand guests, all Congressmen, and Congress- 
men's wives and daughters ; and if, after dinner, 
they all promenade together and jostle each othei' in 
two small parlors, and a hall fifteen feet by forty ? 
Some few of the visitors, however, moved about the 
house with the look of persons who had seen too 
much of a good thing, and who would be hapjiier 
than ever in their lives before, when once more re- 
turned to the quiet of their comfortable though 
unpretending homes. 

Whoever goes to Washington without seeing the 
President of the United States, rmis the risk of being 
thought next to nobody. Accordingly, the White 
House being thrown open for the recej^tion of visit- 
ors the day after my arrival, I did not fail to make 
my appearance there. It was a beautiful April morn- 
ing drojjped down into the early part of February, 
as I strolled through the grounds, and up the steps 
of the far-famed Presidential mansion ; being in a 



WASHINGTON. 17 

mood to be pleaded with everything, and especially 
with the great father of the universal Yankee na- 
tion. 

But what is this I see before me at the thresh- 
old ? Is it a spittoon ? By my troth, an enormous 
one ! A perfect monster in capacity, suggestive of 
quids of the very largest size, and a great many of 
them. A gentle hint, this, no doubt, to the stranger 
just arrived from Texas, or the Upper Mississippi, 
that he will please unpack his cheek before coming 
into the presence of democratic Majesty. 

But here are more spittoons in the anteroom ! It 
would seem, then, that it is not expected that the 
American people, on coming to pay their respects to 
their chief upper servant, should for a moment relin- 
quish their right to chew tobacco whenever and 
wherever it may please them ; and they are accord- 
ingly provided with conveniences for expectoration 
within five-and-forty feet of the foot of the throne. 
This is as it should be — and strongly democratic. If 
there be anything wrong about it, it is, perhaps, that 
there are not vessels of this kind enough to supply 
the demand for them ; and I would most respect- 
fully suggest that the principal avenue to the White 
House should be lined with rows of them, as the 
approaches to European palaces are set out with rare 
plants and flowers. 



18 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

I saw the spittoons ; but, as ill luck would have 
it, not the President. He sent word to the sovereign 
people, and their wives, who had called on him that 
morning, that he was too busy to see them. The 
guests, therefore, were obliged to entertain them- 
selves as best they could with inspecting the Presi- 
dential parlors and upholstery. This they did pretty 
thoroughly. They admired the ceilings, the chan- 
deliers, the chairs, the tables, the curtains ; and gazed 
at the carpets, as Moloch at the golden pavement of 
heaven. Some of the ladies lingered before the mir- 
rors, taking that opportunity to survey their toilettes; 
some of the gentlemen eyed the mahogany, and the 
sideboards ; and one demagogue I observed inquisi- 
tively looking up chimney. 

After the survey of the premises, it remained 
only for the company to look at each' other. This, 
also, was done. Everybody stared at everybody ; 
and, finally, all either went home, or looked into the 
grounds to see the Presidential flock of fat turkeys. 
Next to the great Southern belle, a dashing young 
widoAV in ermine and point lace, and in possession, as 
it was whispered about, of an annual income of two 
hundred bales of cotton, there was one cock turkey 
which made the handsomest and proudest display of 
the morning. In fact, I was better pleased with his 
showing off, which was done in the very best style 



WASHINGTON. ig 

of turkeys, than with the widow's. His strut was 
regal ; and the way in which he made himself big 
with feathers, quite took the hoop out of all the 
crinolines, causing them to look scarcely bigger than 
so many folded umbrellas. Nor did I fail to notice 
the propriety, since the spread eagle has possession 
of the national escutcheon, of maintaining in the 
grounds of the chief magistrate of the country this 
brother bird, with distended wings and tail, and 
throat red with gobbling. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Virginia Springs. 

AFTER having crossed the mountains of Vir- 
ginia by rail, the old-fashioned stage coach 
took me up a short distance from the Warm Springs ; 
and, a fcAV hours afterward, a smart crack of the 
whip under the flank of the ofl' leader brought tlie 
cari'iage handsomely round to the door of the hotel. 
As I alighted, no sooner had my feet touched the 
ground, than I was recognized by one of the black 
boys, who had waited on me, two summers before, 
at the White Sulphur ; and was at once claimed by 
him as " his gentle'um." The fellow was, indeed, in 
a perfect ecstasy over the arrival of " his gentle'um 
from York;" while I, seeing no difference in his 
wool from that of a dozen other negroes standing by, 
had not the slightest recollection of ever having en- 
joyed the pleasure of his acqua'intance, and looked 
upon him simply as a darkey suddenly gone mad. 



THE VIRGINIA SPRING 8. 21 

" Bery glad to see massa once more in de moun- 
t'ns," said he, rubbing his hands briskly, and grin- 
ning from ear to ear. " Do massa no remember Cus- 
topol ob de White Sulphur, two summers gone 
back ? " 

I looked again, and saw that it was, indeed, Custy. 
Could any other black boy in Virginia be so black as 
he ? His nose was scarcely less flat than the pan- 
cakes he used to bring me at breakfast. His mouth 
was full half an inch in advance of it, and so large 
that, when he kissed any of the yellow girls, in going 
through the reel, the report Avas like that of a big 
popgun. His teeth were grinders all round ; and, 
with his jawbone, a bold man could cut down as large 
a host of enemies as he could with that of an ass. 
But when it came to comparing foreheads, Custy 
was lacking there. In his brows there w as no pres- 
ence. The wool grew down over them ; and, cut 
ever so close, it would have sufficed to throAv them 
into the shade, were they not already blacker than 
any shadow. Custy's phrenological developments 
were to be sought for elsewhere — even to his heels. 
Moreover, though his shoulders were broad, his back 
was hollow, and his Avaist a mere finger bowl. So 
that when, on a Sunday, Custy drew his bands tight, 
and cocked his hat a little on one side of his head — 
in his bright yellow waistcoat, tall red cravat, and a 



22 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

gentleman's cast-ofF blue coat, set oS with brass but- 
tons, and cut with a broad roll in the collar — he was 
as jaunty a gallant as ever " picked " a banjo. 

I went directly in to breakfast, being prepared 
for it by a drive outside the coach since daylight, and 
told Custopol to bring along his hoecakes, 

" Nice ven'son steak, massa," said Custy. 

" Very well," I replied ; " hoecakes and venison 
steak." 

" Butter made in de house, massa ! " 

" Exactly — hoecakes, and venison steak, and fresh 
butter." 

" Hot milk ? " 

"No; give me the cold cream. No such cream 
as this in York, Custy ! " 

" Me believe dat. People must come back to Old 
Virginny for to see de right yaller milk." ' 

" And the yellow girls, too, Custy ? " 

" He ! he ! he ! ha ! ha ! ha ! " replied my colored 
Adonis, and wiped the water out of his mouth on the 
edge of his apron. 

But when Custopol laughed, I made it a rule to 
stop the conversation. His grinning was all very 
line, and brought out his ivory, and the white of his 
eyes, to admiration ; but when it came to laughing, 
I was always afraid lest he might so far forget him- 
self as to blow his steam whistle, Avhich Avould cer- 
tainly bring down the whole house about my ears. 



'fHE VIRGINIA SPRINGS. 23 

Venison steaks twice a day, and my black boy 
perpetually on the grin to see me eat them ! In- 
deed, he would have been delighted to serve them 
as many times more ; while his cakes, morning and 
evening, were as hot as tlie hearth from which they 
came. Bread, alone, answers a poor purpose ; but 
on corn cakes, venison, and mountain air — with a 
drop of the dew, now and then — a man, whose con- 
science is easy, will as surely tlu-ive as cows on clo- 
ver. From the very first day of this regimen his ribs 
feel heavier; while on the piazza stand the scales, for 
the purpose of enabling him daily to note the happy 
progress he is making toward one hundred stone. 
The thin dyspeptic, on arriving in these mountains, 
no longer weighs his food, but himself; and, after 
every meal, kicks the beam one notch higher. If, 
then, at night, he will also give a boy a quarter to 
" pick" the banjo imder his window, and sing " Going 
over Jordan," and " Jim crack Corn," he will end his 
day with perfect stomachic satisfaction, falling sound 
asleep in the very act of ha-ha-ing, and dreaming of 
nothing short of a heaven carved in ebony. 

By the way, this fondness for being weighed is 
universal at these Springs ; at each one of which there 
is a pair of balances standing not far from the front 
door of the hotel, and oiFering their convenience to 
the guests. Accordingly, every man and woman 



24 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

wishes to know how many pounds he, or she, has 
gained in the last twenty-four hours. Nine persons 
out of ten, here, can tell you their exact weight. 
Especially is it pleasing to see the eagerness of young 
mothers to know how fast their babies are growing ; 
but I scarcely ever saw one who was strictly impar- 
tial at the trial. They were always disposed to give 
the little fellow credit for a half pound, or so, more 
than he was entitled to ; would daily crowd up the 
beam ; and sometimes make such announcements 
that, let the baby be ever so fat, one could not re- 
frain from believing he had, besides, a brick in his 
cap. Some infants, on the other hand, would make 
no impression whatever upon the scales, and would 
have to be taken out until they were a week older ; 
or, at least, had eaten their dinner. One thin, ner- 
vous gentleman, also, with a toucli of the dyspepsia, 
could not be induced by any amount of persuasion 
to get into the scales, being api^arently afraid to 
know how light he was. Ladies of a certain age, 
too, were rather shy of them. Once I saw a matron 
turned of forty, who, in a heedless moment, had ven- 
tured to take her seat under the beam, jump out of 
it, on the announcement of the number one hundred 
and ninety-nine, as if she had been shot. But some 
old gents, on the other hand, who used to sit about 
in easy, wide-bottomed chairs, were evidently avcU 



THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS. 25 

pleased at showing off the efiect of their tlireescove 
years of good living — generally taking the opportu- 
nity of giving the name of the county in which they 
had been " raised," and mentioning the weight of 
their fathers before them. 

Still — to return to my muttons — it must be con- 
fessed that, since the arrival of the French cook in 
these hills, there is a notable falling off in the pleas- 
ures of the table. Sambo was a better spit-turner. 
An outcast from the Palais Royal, where he served 
dinners at two francs per head, the artiste., who 
arrives in the central regions of Virginia, brings 
with him only the knowledge of a few tricks for 
cheapening dishes. His grand invention is to put all 
meats into the pot. His roast beef is first boiled, 
and then toasted. So is his roast mutton. A thor- 
ough-going socialist at heart, he has even gone so far, 
at some of the Sj^rings, as to boil all his meats to- 
gether in one cauldron ; thereby reducing them all 
to an equality. The saddle of venison lies — alas ! to 
think of it — cheek by jowl with ham, and a side of 
bacon. Beef must fraternize with veal, and exchange 
juices with it. Even the pig — little innocent ! — is 
put into water, and parboiled. Shade of Charles 
Lamb ! that he should no more be roasted ! But it 
has come to this in the progress of civilization, and 
the greedy water is allowed to suck out half the 



26 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

juices which made the Chinaman's fingers so savory, 
when, by that happy accident, he pulled out the 
roasted pig from the burning house by the tail, and 
invented a dish, the memory of which, one would 
suppose, the latest posterity would not willingly let 
die. 

I know the merits of the well-educated professor 
of the French kitchen ; but the vagabond, who has 
found his way into the valleys of the Blue Ridge, 
has nothing of the professor about him, save his 
paper cap. He is homesick — regrettant la patrie — 
into the bargain ; and, I have not a doubt, qualifies 
his soups with his tears. Let no man taste them. 
Certainly, he has either forgotten his French, or 
never knew it. The other day, the landlord, proud 
of the outlandish look of his list of dishes, and think- 
ing, perhaps, to pay me a compliment, in intimating 
that I was acquainted with the French language, said 
to me : 

" You can read this, I suppose, sir ? " 

" No," I was obliged to reply. " Really, I am 
unable to do it." 

The landlord, having shown me up to room No. 
14, the appearance of which was satisfactory, said lie 
would send a boy to wait on me. It proved not to 
be Custopol, but a fellow about forty-five years of 
age, tliough still a boy in Southern parlniico, and des- 



THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS. 21 

tined to remain such to the day of his death. He 
came with the official brush in hand, aud, bowing, 
asked : 

" Will massa have his coat brushed ? " 

" You are to be my boy, then ? " I inquired in re- 
turn. 

" Yes. And will massa have his coat brushed ? " 

" What is your name ? " 

" They call me Sully." 

" Sully ! " I exclaimed, taken suddenly with a fit 
of abstraction at hearing a name which had not sa- 
luted my ears since the days when, a sophomore, 
I was drilled in history by the college professor. 
" Sully ! You then were once a prime minister of 
state ! You were a duke ! You were the favorite 
of one of the most heroic, and the most amiable 
kings of modern times ! You were his ambassador 
at the English court, in the days of the great Queen 
Bess ! And, Sully, you rogue, repeat to me some of 
the fine things you whispered in the greedy ear of 
Her Majesty ! " . 

The Sully before me, who stood still in his shoes, 
without moving a hair's breadth, nor scarcely so 
much as winking, opened his mouth for a reply ; but 
all he could repeat was the question : 

" Will massa have his coat brushed ? " 

By this time, of course, I had become convinced 



28 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

that it was no use trying to teach " dis nigger " his- 
tory, or to persuade him that he had ever been any- 
body else than the boy Sully, who was " raised " in 
Norfolk, and belonged to a citizen there who kept an 
oyster shop — 

" Oh ! raking 'mongst the oyster beds, 
To me it was but j^lay " — 

and who, when shellfish were out of season, hired out 
his servant to wait, and brush at the Springs. 

After getting this short narrative — and it was 
about all that the boy knew respecting his history — it 
remained only to reply to his so-many-times-repeated 
interrogatory : 

" Yes, Sully ; you may brush my coat." 
Sully, accordingly, brushed my coat — a task he 
continued to do daily. He brushed my shoes, also, 
and performed the service of my room. When he 
had no other work on hand, it was his duty, and his 
pleasure, to look after me. He brought me a match 
to light my cigar, if, by chance, I wanted one. He 
brought me my hat, my gloves, my stick. And, 
finally, he stood over me, at table, with a peacock's 
tail in his hand, to keep the flies off, when, as brush- 
ing was his favorite summer vocation, he sometimes 
with the tip of his feathers also brushed my tea and 
coffee. 



THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS. 29 

As the song has it : 

" When I was young, I had to wait 
On massa's table, hand de plate ; 
I pass de bottle when he's dry, 
And brush away de blue-tail fly." 

But if Sully had few or no materials for the 
biographer, to the observer of men and things he 
presented a person of a size sufficient to awaken 
attention, and justify description. He was construct- 
ed on the principle of the curve. With nothing 
angular about him, he was as round as an apple, and 
everywhere came full circle. He was, by all odds, 
the fat boy of the establishment. Of course, he had 
no waist, and was imder the natural necessity of 
wearing suspenders. His skin was so full, that, but 
for the perspiration which dropped from every pore 
the moment he put himself in motion, it was plain 
there would be a crack somewhere. He must have 
been in the habit of frequently opening his oyster 
and his mouth at the same point of time, otherwise 
nature could never have attained to such fulness of 
form, and so universally brought all her lines round 
till they met. And then, what was gained in winter 
was not lost in summer; because, he coming u]> at 
the commencement of the warm season into the pure 
air ol the mountains, the fat of the bivalve, v/hich 



30 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

had once settled on his ribs, remained there the year 
round. 

Sully had not the least particle of vanity in his 
composition ; at least, in studying him carefully for 
a fortnight, I could see no sign of any. He, accord- 
ingly, did not imitate white folks — was sui generis. 
This utter lack of vanity showed itself not only in 
his manners, but also in his dress. His clothes were 
evidently all originally made to fit his own person, 
and were not the thrown-asidc garments of a gentle- 
man. They, consequently, were the farthest possible 
removed from chic. There was no dash in the cra- 
vat, no fashion in the coat, and not so much as a 
bright red, or yellow thread in his whole wardrobe. 
All was either plain white, or black. Or, at least, if 
there were any warmer tints, they were so subdued, 
and ran so naturally into the two cold colors, that the 
prevailing tone of modest dulness was never marred. 
The boy's fancy seemed never to have risen higher 
than the simplest black and white check. This he 
always donned clean — in no sense could it be said 
that he sported it — on a Sunday. 

Sully's dress corresponded with his disposition, 
which was not gay. I cannot conceive of his ever 
having danced the " breakdown." If he had ever 
attempted it, it nmst have been when, on some great 
festal occasion, he so fiir departed from his usual 



THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS. 31 

sobriety as to take a little whiskey. Nov could he 
touch the banjo. I don't believe he had ever been 
half a dozen times to a colored ball since he was a 
small boy ; nor, except on rare occasions, was he ever 
seen looking in at the windows of the saloon in the. 
hotel upon waltz, or cotillon. If he could only go 
to bed early, he wanted no other amusement, imless, 
indeed, it were to get up late. He, however, could 
doze tolerably well, even on his feet, and engaged in 
his ordinary avocations. 

I never saw Sully make a gesture but once, and 
then it was entirely in keeping. It was not a pointed 
gesture. He did not lay his thumb against the end 
of his nose, with little finger projecting, nor, with 
extended index, count off his arguments on his digits. 
Much less was there any violence indicated in the 
motion ; no doubling of the fist ; no beating the 
breast ; no rapping of the knuckles on a table. But 
Sully deliberately raised his hand, and deliberately 
brought it down again, in both instances describing a 
semicircle. The movement was as round as himself. 

And the occasion on which Sully made this ges- 
ture was, when I asked him a question respecting his 
wife. 

" Sully," I inquired one day, " are you a married 
boy?" 

" Yes, massa ; 'tis now gone two years." 



32 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

" Picked out a young girl for your wife, Sully ? " 

" No ; I took an old gal — a free woman — born de 
same year dat was me." 

" And how do you like it — the married life ? " 

" Right well." 

" But suppose you, and your wife should dis- 
agree ? " * 

"Massa," said Sully — and it w^as then ho made 
his gestm-e — " we should quit ! " 



CHAPTER ir. 

Five Unprotected Ladies. 

FIVE ladies, unattended by a gentleman, arrived 
at the Sweet Sj)rings, in the same coach as my- 
self. They were apparently all of the same age, and 
looked enough alike to he sisters. Two of them, 
certainly, had formerly accepted of husbands ; the 
others, probably, not. Yet, being helpmates one of 
the other, they got on safely, and everywhere had 
their own way, spite of men, and fate. Tlieir very 
number gave them force, and great advantages over 
a single unprotected female. 

On the road, they were, indeed, not a little anx- 
ious about their baggage, fearing lest it might be 
cut oif from the coach by robbers, while the driver 
was thinking of something else ; and Avhenever Ave 
stopped, one of them, at least, generally mannged to 
get out, for the purpose of seeing that their tnmks 
rode comfortably. All their bandboxes were on the 
top of the coacli, excepting one of considerable size 
2* 



34 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

containing caps, and another smaller one filled with 
homceopatliic medicines, both of which were carefully 
carried in their laps. Whenever, therefore, the road 
was a little rough — and it was by no means always 
smooth — one eye was kept out of the Avindow to see 
if, by chance, some of the boxes might not be tossed 
over the railing. The ladies, themselves, stood the 
jolting pretty well, their thoughts being mostly fixed 
on their valuables outside ; and, indeed, the chief 
pleasure experienced on their ti'avels seemed to be 
the satisfaction it gave them, at every stopping place, 
to learn from personal observation, confirmed by the 
testimony of the driver, that all their travelling 
eifects were safe. That both they themselves, and 
all tliey had, should get unharmed to the end of their 
journey, was surely a cause for the very greatest 
satisfaction. 

So it turned out. They were all delivered -over 
to the landlord of the inn which had been fixed upon, 
months before, as the spot where they would pass the 
summer, safe and sound, themselves, their trmiks, 
and their boxes — even to their umbrellas, parasols, 
and sticks. But I mistake — they had no sticks. 

Once, hoAvever, on the journey, they had been 
pretty badly frightened. There Avas then running on 
the road a line of coaches in opposition to that of 
the mail ; and, in consideration of a very consider- 



UNPROTECTED LADIES. 35 

able abatement in the jjrice of passage, the ladies had 
ventured to take seats in one of the former. But the 
drivers sharing the spirit of rivalry between the pro- 
prietors, the Jehu of the "Lucy Dashwood" — m 
which the ladies had taken passage— had, from the 
start, made up his mind that he would take the snap- 
per off the lash of the " old line " driver, before 
reaching the end of his journey. Accordingly, he 
managed to keep close behind his rival until they 
came to a place where there was room enough for a 
race. The main road itself, just there, was narrow, 
and had some sharp turns in it, so that quick driving 
over it required pretty steady rein, and horses well 
in hand. But along its side ran a creek, the bed of 
which also furnished a track to a driver who, at the 
same time, was not a bad pilot. Therefore, on reach- 
ing this place, the hindmost whip determined that he 
would either tip over, or get the lead. Seeing that 
his opponent kept to the road which was dry, he 
boldly dashed into the wet one. 

" Good gracious ! " exclaimed the ladies, all at 
once ; and, but for being held fast, one or more of 
them would certainly have jumped out into tlie 
creek. Meanwhile, splash doAvn through the torrent 
went coach and horses, making the water fly in at the 
windows as if it had been a violent rain storm. The 
ladies dropped both cap box and medicine chest, in 



36 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

order to clasp their hands in consternation. But 
before they had time to wring them, the horses, with 
the lash aroimd the ears of the leaders, sprang out 
of the creek at a bound. The small boulders in the 
road where it left the water leaped out of it as if 
they had been frogs ; the good, stout vehicle shook 
in every timber, but came out unbroken ; the harness 
held fast, and the horses, gaining once more the 
smooth terra Jlrma, rattled down the hill, with tails 
in the wind, and their dull rivals far behind. 

Immediately on being set down at the inn, the 
five ladies took possession of the landlord, and car- 
ried him oif with them, to look at his rooms ; and, 
according to the account of the matter afterward 
given to me, he did not get out of their hands with- 
out some rather hard usage. They did not like his 
accommodations. The rooms first offered them they 
scarcely deigned to look at ; biit, after going over 
the whole house, and holding a consultation upon 
every vacant cliamber in it, they finally came back to 
those they had so disdainfully refused at first, but 
Avhich, by that time, had been taken by another 
party. So they were obliged to go over tlie whole 
ground a second time. One of the sisters wanted to 
have a bed which no man had ever slept in ! An- 
other insisted on being settled in the new part of the 
building, lest there should be animalculte in the walls 



UNPROTECTED LADIES. 37 

of the old. Ill all the rooms they pulled up the bed- 
clothes, and peered anxiously, but knowhigly, into 
the holes iu the four jiosts. They demanded a rock- 
ing chair, with a cushion to it, in each one of their 
chambers. And, finally one thing was absolutely 
indispensable — the curtains at the windows were an 
insufficient protection ; they must be reenforced by 
shutters, made by the carpenter. 

" But, ladies," replied the good-natured landlord, 
" there is not a carpenter to be had in the mountains. 
If you think the curtains insufficient, you must pin up 
something." 

" Indeed, we have nothing to pin up ! " rejoined 
they all. Finally, however, seeing there was no rem- 
edy, this suggestion met with their approbation ; 
and, either with or without what they wanted, or 
thought they wanted, the five ladies were, at last, all 
settled in their chambers. 

But it was not more than ten minutes after they 
had taken possession of their apartments before one 
of the ladies rang the landlord up again. Her chim- 
ney smoked. 

" That can't be, madam," said the host, " for 
there is no fire in it." 

" So much the worse, if it smokes when there is 
no fire ! What, then, will it do, when, on a rainy 
day, there are a couple of backlogs on, and I sit 
down to warm my feet by tlie fire ? " 



38 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

• 

" But, madam, I don't perceive that it does 
smoke." 

" I do. I smell it. And when there are fires 
built all about the house, I am siire that this chimney 
will smoke violently. There are now several gentle- 
men with their cigars on the piazza, and their smoke 
comes down through this fireplace. I smell it." 

The landlord was a man of too much experience 
to argue long against the testimony of one of the 
seven senses — particularly in the case of a lady 
arrived at such years of discretion. He therefore 
quietly gave up his argument ; the lady her chamber ; 
and so the peace between them was not broken. 

Only one thing remained to give them any uneasi- 
ness — and that was their travelling bag. For, on the 
journey, some inconsiderate person had remarked 
that he believed one of the outside passengers was 
just recovering from an attack of the small pox, 
caught at Staunton, where there had recently been 
several cases of it. 

" Oh, our travelling bag ! " exclaimed she who 
seemed to be rather the bellwether of the party. 
" The man has been sitting on our travelling bag ! " 

lie had, in fact, been sitting, at one time, with 
his back against the unlucky piece of baggage ; and 
it very naturally followed that he had given it the 
small pox. 



UNPROTECTED LADIES. 39 

What WHS to be done ? The bag contained a 
part of their several wardrobes which could no more 
be dispensed with than shutters to the windows. 
What in the world was to be done ? 

" Have you ever been vaccinated ? " first asked 
each of the other. 

" Yes, I have been vaccinated," was the reply all 
round. 

" Have you been revaccinated ? " 

" Yes, I have been revaccinated." 

" Then let me see the scar." 

The scars were, some of them, hard to find ; but, 
when found, were all pronounced satisfactory. And 
after much debating of the point, it was finally de- 
cided that, if th€ bag should be well smoked, and 
then its contents washed, a globule from phial marked 
44 being put in the tub, they would run very little, 
if any, risk of taking the contagion. 

It is more than probable that they escaped this 
peril also ; for there was some reason for believing 
that the traveller who made the remark about the 
outside passenger having this disease, was an evil- 
disposed person who could not resist the malicious 
pleasure of quizzing these respectable, but impro- 
tected ladies. If so, he deserved the severest con- 
demnation, and will no doubt find his reward re- 
serA^ed for him in the future. 



40 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS^ 

At the close of the bathing season, on retuniiiig 
to the inn at the " Sweet," I inquired of the major- 
domo if any of the " five ladies" had had the small 
pox before leaving, and was glad to learn that, up to 
that time, the disease had not made its appearance 
among them. They had passed the summer, on 
the whole, to their satisfoction, though, on being 
weighed the morning of their departure, it was 
found that, after all their endeavors to the contrary, 
they had not gained a single pound. But if they 
had not gained, so had they not lost anything. And 
their dresses would not need altering. 

A good many suggestions, the manager informed 
me, he had received from thcin, in the course of the 
summer, as to how the accommodations of his house 
might be improved against another season. They 
had, indeed, planned an entirely new cast of the 
whole establishment, addmg an additional wing to 
the house, removing the stables, changing the fences, 
turning the current of the creek, and doing a good 
deal of painting and whitewashing, both indoors 
and out. They had, also, closely calculated, with 
slate and pencil, the value of the property — houses, 
lands, baths, and \\\c stock — besides making an esti- 
mate of the gross and net receipts of the establish- 
ment ; and, by their own showing, had nm the pro- 



UNPROTECTED LADIE8. 41 

prietor m debt for betterments to full three times the 
value of his estate. 

To all these suggested improvemeuts, therefore, 
the innkeeper had gravely shaken his head ; and, in 
winding up his story, he further intimated to me 
that, in his opinion, persons, whose wants at a hotel 
were the most numerous and unreasonable, did not 
always live any better at home than those who were 
more easily pleased, and took things as they came. 

" However," added he, " they were very worthy 
ladies ; and, no doubt, had been accustomed to have 
their own way at home — everything pat — and just 
so. But our servants could not get along with them 
at all. Poor Polly's head — she's the maid — was 
turned before they had been in the house a week ; 
and Sam, the small boy who waited on them at table, 
was fairly brought down, the day before their de- 
parture, with what is called here the 'break-bone 
fever.' " 



CHAPTER V. 

The Warm Springs. 

THE view from the top of the Warm Springs 
mountain is said to be the most beautiful of 
any in this part of the Alleghanies. Although, in 
either boldness of outline or grace of detail, it can- 
not by any means be compared with the famous 
scenes of the Alps or the Pyrenees, still it "vvdll well 
repay the trouble of the ascent. You climb to a 
rocky crag, whence there is a panoramic view of 
summits and intervening vales, far and wide, until 
the distant horizon is lost in mists, or ranges so re- 
mote as scarcely to be distinguished from the clouds. 
The shadows of passing masses of vapor lie about in 
black spots upon the green foliage of the forests, 
which cover both mountains and valleys. For every- 
where here is this green veil drawn over the i'ace 
of nature. Only the narrow streams, nu^andering 
through the vales, scud up a silver gleam ; or, here 



THE WARM aPRINGS. 43 

and there, a cultivated hillside is yellow with grain ; 
or the limestone road glistens, as, like a scaly mon- 
ster, it winds its coils around the breasts of the 
mountains; or, far below, a whitewashed cottage, 
with its curl of blue smoke, lends its brilliant con- 
trast to gardens and meadows. And yet, at second 
look, you observe that, while the nearer summits arc 
overspread with the numerous variations of green, 
from the white birch's delicate tints to those of the 
sombre cedar, there are on the remoter ranges such 
great numbers of the yellow pine, stripped of its 
foliage by the preceding winter's fires, and showing 
only its bark, that a purple hue prevails in many 
localities, almost deep enoiigh to remind one of the 
heathery hills of Scotland. 

Passing from the general view to the examination 
of details, you see below you, on the western side, 
the valley of the Warm Springs. It is as lovely as a 
vale in Vallambrosa — long, and moderately narrow, 
with several gaps in the mountains on either side, 
and through one of them passes out toward the west 
the small stream which flows down from near the 
head of the valley. By its side runs a carriage road, 
along which are scattered a few habitations ; the lit- 
tle cluster of buildings at the bath being the princi- 
pal ones. The meadows arc not so low but that you 
can watch the mowers as they swing the scythe, or 



44 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS 

the haymakers piling up the thick stacks ; and so far 
are the undulations of sound conveyed through the 
clear, elastic air, that you distinctly hear the sheeji- 
bell tinkling from neighboring summits, the lowing 
of cattle on the cultivated hillsides, and even the 
shrill call and answer of quail whistling to each other 
from still lower grain fields. 

The mountain situated opposite you, and on the 
other side of the valley, has its sides very evenly 
ribbed, or furrowed, the upper half being thickly 
wooded, and the lower imder tillage. Its ridge is a 
gracefully undulating line ; and so sharp is it that 
the topmost trees have the apj^earance of being set 
upon it as a fringe. When in the afternoon the sun 
has somewhat declined from the zenith, only the 
ti'cetops between the furrows on the declivities are 
directly illumined by its rays, while those in the fur- 
rows themselves are dark with shade. The tall 
woods, also, that skirt the cultivated half of the 
mountain side, cast long shadoAVS upon the green of 
the pastures and the yellow of the grain fields ; 
Aviiile single elms and chestnuts, here and there, pro- 
ject their profiles far down into the still sun-lit. val- 
ley. To this unequal distribution of light and shade 
tlie landsca])e owes its most pleasing cftects. 

Indeed, it is tlie charm of this scenery, that it is 
never seen twice the same. Witii every change of 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 45 

light and shade, in different positions of the snn, 
from various points of observation, in different states 
of the atmosphere, the aspects of this mountainous 
and wooded nature vary perpetually. The beholder 
is constantly discovering some new features in the 
landscape, graces before overlooked, a more true and 
significant expression. The moimtains are a very 
Proteus — a chameleon, rather — and their tints change 
while one is looking at them. For now the distances 
are a deep blue, and now they are purple. The sun 
lights up, at one moment, the round-topped hills cov- 
ered with flowering chestnuts ; at another, the rays 
being withdrawn, the hollows of the valleys are dark 
as evening. Large white clouds gradually form 
above the higher summits, and, one by one, float off 
into midheaven. The mists rise, and again are dissi- 
pated. At high noon, there is not a shadoAV among 
the whole multitude of mountains ; while, at early 
morn and evening, every peak, and crag, and rock, 
and lone-standing tree has its reflected image, and 
the forms of the landscape are multiplied twofold. 
This hour, the vapors, driven by the winds, are 
chasing each other, like wandering spirits, athwart 
the sky and over the mountain tops ; the rain clouds 
gathering, dash against the summits, and break over 
the valleys ; the thunder rattles from one end of the 
heavens to the other, shivering, with its bolts, the 



46 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

raonarchs of the forest, and illumining with frequent 
flashes the untimely obscurity. The next, the winds 
are hushed ; the sun bursts brightly out of the 
clouds, which roll away to the eastward ; the bow 
of promise, spanning the heavens, binds together the 
distant mountain tops ; the wet foliage of the trees 
glistens in the sunlight ; and, at evening, the last 
rays of declining day spread the hue of roses over 
the round clouds which, here and there, elevate their 
gorgeous heads above the horizon. Then, in their 
turn, the gorgeous clouds losing the tints too fair to 
last, the stars light Tip their fires on the highest 
peaks ; the valleys are peacefully folded in the man- 
tle of evening ; and the grim mountains sleep. 

There is no luxury in water greater than tliat of 
the Warm Springs bath. 

That one of these fountains used for bathing is 
jn-otected by an amphitheatre, having a circular open- 
ing in the roof, for light and ventilation. You un- 
dress in an anteroom, and descend by a flight of 
stejjs into the pool, which is some forty feet m diam- 
eter. The water, generally, is about five feet deep, 
but may be made higher, or lower, to suit the stature 
of the bather — the rule being that it shall come up 
to his chin. A rope is stretched across the bath, and 
upon that one may hang, or lean. The temperatui'e 
of the water is about ninety-six degrees of Fahren- 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 47 

heit around the edge of the pool, and ninety-eight in 
the centre ; where, especially, it comes gushing up 
with innumerable gas bubbles from between the 
stones which cover the bottom. 

On entering, everybody feels perfectly well-to-do 
in this bath — however he may do in the world. The 
water readily fraternizes with the bather's blood, 
both being of about the same temperature. One can 
promenade, or swim ; Jie can loll on the rope, or sit 
meditative on the steps. In either of these cases, he 
is all under Avater, except his head, and he feels as 
though he could never willingly get out of it. This 
is, in quality, exceedingly buoyant ; so that the indi- 
vidual, too large to get about in the air with entire 
comfort, here feels not much heavier than a feather, 
and gay enough to dance hornpipes. It is so soft 
that the roughest hide will seem smooth, as if anoint- 
ed with myrrh and frankincense. It is, also, per- 
fectly transparent ; and the light, streaming through 
the circular opening in the roof, not only fills a por- 
tion of the pool with the gorgeous colors of the 
prism, but also furnishes the stones lying at the bot- 
tom with tints, as if they were all precious — rubies, 
pearls, and emeralds. 

Steeped in this delightful element, the traveller 
forgets the aches of the road ; the rheumatic feels 
the pains in his bones assuaged ; the cripple is con- 



48 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

scious in his chords that they are relaxing ; the ner- 
vous invalid is soothed ; and all, no longer oppressed 
by ills, whether of the body or the mind, revel in the 
most delicious sensations, or are transported in day- 
dreams into far-off, happy planets, where the inhabit- 
ants live in warm water. 

But perhaps the greatest charm of the bath is its 
bubbles. These come up, here and there, as they 
will ; sometimes single, then, in pairs, and again in 
clusters — like the going off of a bouquet of rockets. 
As you stand up in the water, those rising from be- 
tween the stones directly beneath you attach them- 
selves, as if drawn by some magnetic influence, to 
your legs ; and then creeping \v^ your body, produce 
a species of titillation the most exquisite, surely, ever 
felt. They tickle you as if it were fun for them, 
too. 

If you give the little things a serious thought, 
you cannot persuade yourself that they are not ani- 
mated, hai:)py existences. As they rise to the sur- 
face over the whole bath, those directly in the rays 
of the sun show, even on starting from the bottom, 
the prismatic colors, the violet predominating ; while 
those in the shade flash through the water like balls 
of silver. They all come trembling, quivering, dan- 
cing up to the surface. And when they gain it, the 
round ball Ijccomes a half S])here, and floats for an 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 49 

instant on the water. It is as though the joyous, 
sparkling being, after its brief dance of life from 
bottom to top of the water, were given one instant 
of more perfectly conscious delight, ere bursting into 
void and nought. For it is only a half-dozen seconds 
that the bubble reposes on the water, though some 
are longer lived than others ; and when it breaks, the 
expansive force of the rupture drives a tiny circle 
outward with infinite grace, but quickly to disappear 
in the level smoothness of the surface ; or oftener, 
mingling with other kindred circles in lines of intri- 
cate and confused harmony. 

But you have time, first, to observe that the bub- 
bles floating in the sunlight have in their centre a 
point of red light flashing like Mars m the heavens ; 
while those in the shade are lit up with the softer 
ray of those stars whose light is white. These are 
the souls of the bubbles, no doubt, that burn with 
fires only less purely intellectual than those which 
shine out of the eyes of man, or beast. 

Though creations of a moment's vain endurance — 
mere bubbles on the vv^ater — these, too, burn their 
tiny tapers in God's temple, as well as do the priests 
before their altars. Mpiads upon myriads of them, 
v/ithout ceasing, here rise and shine, as wonderful in 
formation as the sun and moon ; all obedient, in form 
and motion, to the great laws of the xmiverse ; each 



50 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

perfect in its kind, and without spot. And yet how 
few of the multitudes who lave their weary or en- 
feebled limbs in this pool of healing — alas ! how 
foAV — ever care for these j^oor bubbles ! 

The manners here are those of the South, and 
decidedly suited to the summer watering place. 
There is nothing townish about them. All the men 
and women seem as much at home as if they had 
been brought up here, mingling in rustic scenes with 
natural grace, unconstrained, simple, and happy, 
without too much excitement. If a lady finds it 
convenient to dine in a morning dress, she is at lib- 
erty to do so. There is no objection to calico at a 
picnic. The evening's dance will, indeed, bring out 
a few short sleeves and low necks, where arms and 
shoulders are so very pretty ; but all sorts of styles 
are admissible ; and, while the gardens are rifled of 
roses, pinks, and honeysuckles, to twine in the young 
girls' tresses, I scarcely ever saw an artificial flower 
in the momitains. Sometimes, the first day after her 
arrival, a lady will come down to dinner looking sufii- 
ciently stiff and uncomfortable ; but the next, she 
also gives her stays a little more string, leaves off" the 
heavy silk, and begins to learn some of the artless 
grace of nature in these vales. 

At the Northern spas, most of the ladies look as 
though they were not out of town. Their style of 



TUE WARM SPRINGS. 51 

dress, not being expressly adapted to the bathing 
place, like that of English ladies, reminds one con- 
stantly of balls in the Fifth Avenue, and of the 
boxes of the Academy of Music. There is as much 
whalebone around the heart of the belle, in a hop at 
the " Ocean House," or the " United States," as if 
the public room of a summer tavern were an Al- 
mack's, or the drawing room of Queen Victoria. 
The graces which attend her steps are not rustic, 
surely. 

The manners of our Southern friends have a pecu- 
liar adaptation to the spas, from the fact that their 
life at home is mainly rural. This gives them an air 
of naturalness at these places, and enables them, also, 
to pass their time pleasantly, without bringing thither 
the routine of morning calls and card leaving, the 
giving of balls and dinners, with formal invitations, 
and refreshments sent by express from town. 

Has not, perhaps, the presence of the colored 
race at the Southern baths something to do with 
this air of simple, natural, hearty enjoyment of the 
country, which prevails there ? Sambo on his trav- 
els, in his best doublet and hose, riding on the top of 
stage coaches, smitten at every different bath with 
the face of some new Phyllis, and realizing, at last, 
the fond burden of his song of " Oh, carry me back 
to old Yirginny," wears a face in which the wrinkles 



52 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

are, none ©f care, and all of merriment. The car- 
bonic acid he drinks in the mineral waters has ujion 
him the effect of the exhilarating gas ; whiie the 
lively air of the hills makes hun as cheery as though 
he had been drmkmg whiskey toddy. He takes his 
summer life easily ; and, in his simplicity, enjoys the 
succession of passing events — though but the arrival 
of the stage coach, or the simjjle carrying a glass of 
mint julep with a straw in it to his master — to such 
a degree that these Springs, constantly giving back 
the picture of his grinning face, might better be 
called the Laughing Waters than those of the Upper 
Mississippi. 

On the other hand, the Irish immigrant, who 
mostly performs the service of our Noi'thern hotels, 
carries in his face no sign of summer-day satisfaction 
— much less, any excess of radiance to reflect on so- 
ciety. Patrick has no banjo ; and can no more sing 
a song than a Jew by the waters of Babylon. The 
donkey that stands at the hotel door has much more 
drollery in his head than this exile from beyond seas, 
Avho is a mere scrub, and scullion, not even possessed 
pf wit enough to make a good flunky. His mulish 
physiognomy suggests no visions of rural enjoyment, 
and the life Arcadian. On the contrary, the A^cry 
sight of these coarse-handed waiters, and wenches 
unkempt, is enough to disenchant all the illusions 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 53 

with -nliich one may have come clown into the coun- 
try respecting the purity of life in the midst of 
nature, and the chances of meeting nymphs in the 
woods. "Who, forsooth, ever saw a naiad m foim- 
tams when Bridget was drinking at them ? 

It really does make a difference, and that in favor 
of the Southei'n spa, this thrumming of the banjo in 
the evening twilight, together with an occasional 
melody heard from imder the gum trees — for banjos 
are as numerous in Virginia, if not quite as romantic, 
as guitars in Spain. And one " picked " under my 
windows, on the evening of the full moon in the 
month of August, I remember with especial pleasure. 
No sooner had the musician — I think his name was 
Pompey — struck up his tune, than all the colored 
amateurs withia hearing flocked around. At first, 
two or three small black boys, imable to restrain 
their heels, began to shuffle on the pavement with 
might and main. But straightway an older negro, 
crying to these small boys to get out of the way, 
and, at the same time, frightening them off the walk 
by blowing a low note from his steam whistle, took 
up himself the jig. He wore a slouched felt hat, 
turned up, however, both before and behind, like the 
ancient cocked one, and which, for band, was lied 
aroimd Avith a long gray garter, that hung down OA'er 
Ids left shoulder. Having on a heavy pair of boots. 



54 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

worn outside bis breeches, be at once made the pave- 
ment ring ; scraping it furiously with bis soles, and 
knocking it sharply and rapidly with bis heels. All 
the while the double joints in liis knees were in full 
play, as also bis shoulders ; and, in fact, every bone 
and muscle in his whole body. Now, his feet were 
throAvn nearly as high as his head, and bis arms a 
good deal higher. Now, bis legs were extended like 
a dancing girl's ; and, agam, the hinges in bis knees 
were bent double. From time to time, I could see 
bis eyes, when be turned them upward, flash Avitli the 
excitement of the fling, though in the dark ; bis ivory 
shone through bis mouth like the moon out of clouds ; 
the half-suppressed cry of triumph — a sort of horse 
laugh — would occasionally break from bis throat ; and 
Avhen, at length, be came to stamp out the finale of 
the " breakdown," the blowing of his steam whistle 
might have been beard at the distance of half a mile. 
A public table is a very good place for showing 
off" the bringing up of children. One small boy, 
four or five years of age, who had a seat directly 
opposite mine, one day gave me an opportunity of 
making an observation or two on the effects of tlie 
discipline of the Virginia nursery. He was a deter- 
mined-looking little fellow, evidently accustomed to 
carrying things at home with a high band, and kick- 
ing all the little negroes about, right and left. 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 55 

He began his dinner with a dish of almonds, 
which happened to be standing before him, and at 
which he made a sudden grab the moment he was in 
his chair. No squirrel ever put nuts into his mouth 
faster than he did for about a couple of minutes, 
at the end of which time he began filling his 
pockets. 

At length, the waiter asked him what he would 
have for dinner. 

" Give me chicken," said he, sharply. 

The chicken was brought. 

" Give me jelly." 

The currant jelly, also, was brought. 

But, very soon, something going wrong, the 
youth began to cry. His mother, however, appeased 
him ; and, stopping his noise, he called in a mild 
tone of voice for some milk. 

" Give me milk." 

This furnished, he did not withdraw his nose 
from the cup until it had touched the bottom ; and 
when he did, there was still a drop pendent at its 
,tip. This, however, fell off, as, throwing his head 
back against the chair, he drew a loud, long breath, 
as if his dinner were done, and he himself com- 
pletely exhausted. 

But a few moments' rest revived him, when he 
"returned to his muttons." Yet, nothing within 



56 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

sight suiting him, he sat, for the next five minutes, 
grumbling and whining, and in a humor decidedly 
unfavorable to the digestion of his almonds, chicken, 
jelly, and milk. But, at length, having made him- 
self and his j^arents sufficiently uncomfortable, ho 
knew what he wanted, and cried out, boldly : 

" Give me 'lasses ! " 

" Molasses, Sammy ! " replied his father. " You 
don't want molasses at dinner." 

This paternal reproof brought the blood into the 
face of the heir, and, gathering up all the sti'ength 
of his lungs for one burst of wrath, he bawled out, 
high above the clatter of knives and forks : 

" 'Lasses ! 'lasses ! corn-dodger, and 'lasses ! " 

The molasses was produced — if for no other pur- 
pose, to stop the young wretch's mouth. But corn- 
dodger being a breakfast cake, he was cajoled into 
substituting a piece of bread for it. This he now 
amused himself with working around in the molasses 
until the bread was well soaked through, and more 
or less broken to pieces. How then to get these 
fragments into his mouth, was the next question. 
A spoon did not altogether suit him ; and, finally, 
in went the fingers. These carried him success- 
fully through the job ; though, at the end of it, 
his face was as Avell smeared, from ear to ear, as 
if he had been sucking at the bungholc of the ori- 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 57 

ginal hogshead. He was now told to wipe his face 
on his napkin ; but I think he did it on the table 
cloth. 

To all appearances, the little gourmand was sa- 
tiated. He leaned back in his chair, braced his feet 
against the table, and seemed as quiet as if he had 
been the fattest boy in the State, instead of being, 
as he was, as lean as a stick. 

But he was not through his dinner yet. Giving 
the rickety table a sudden push with his feet, which 
overturned a good-sized dish of custards, he resumed 
his upright position, and cried out : 

." Beef — give me beef ! " 

" Oh, sonny ! " exclaimed the mother, " you have 
eaten enough." 

" No, no, no ! " was the indignant reply. " Give 
me beef! give me beef! " 

What was to be done with the little rascal ? He 
kicked, squirmed, threw up his napkin, and still cried 
for beef. He would have it. 

Well, the beef, too, was brought. But he 
wouldn't touch it — didn't want it — and sat pouting 
with one finger in his mouth. In fact, he could eat 
no more. But as nobody said a word to him, he was 
the more indignant ; and, bursting into a rage, he 
threw the plate containing the beef into his father's 
lap, that containing the remainder of the molasses 
3* 



58 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

into his mother's, and himself, at the same time, 
under the table. 

" Ca3sar," called out the father, " take away this 
blackguard ! " 

And, before Sammy had time to catch his breath, 
and scream twice, Cresar had him out of the dining 
hall. 

Little Sammy was, indeed, an exceptional child ; 
but I have seen his yokefellow in these mountains. 
The one was in the liighest class of society ; the 
other, in the lowest. One day, when I was going by 
stage coach from the White Sulphur to the Sweet 
Springs, the driver took up by the roadside a couple 
of natives, having with them a child about four years 
of age. Tliey were of the most vulgar order of per- 
sons to be met with in this, or any other of the 
States ; foul in language, and not clean in apjDcar- 
ance, both half tipsy, and disposed to be loquacious. 
But without further description of them, suffice it to 
say that the child was a Uttle monster, being of 
almost twice the size natural for his years, and hav- 
ing the manners of a boy a]iproacliing his teens. 
Already, he had taken to the bottle, and sucked whis- 
key as another child would pap. Tlie little barbarian 
also imitated his parents in another bad habit — he 
swore like a pirate. I did not see him chew tobacco ; 
but doubt not he will smoke liis " lono- nine " before 



THE WARM SPRINGS. 59 

lie is a couple of years older. The only way of 
keeping him quiet was to ply him with sugar candy, 
and give him, now and then, a taste of the whiskey. 
But at last, being tired of the motion of the carriage, 
and out of sorts from the regimen he had adopted, 
he swore, at one of the stopping places, that he 
would go no farther. 

" I no go beyond dis place, nohow," said he to his 
parents. " See you both d d fust ! " 

Children, whether of the rich, or the poor, are 
not too well brought up in this coimtry. In those 
states of Europe which have made the greatest prog- 
ress in civilization, especially in England, the care of 
children is much more methodical, and painstaking, 
than in this newer part of the world. English chil- 
dren are provided with simpler food, suited to their 
years, and are not allowed to partake of the stimu- 
lating diet of their elders. Tiie bone and sinew of 
the tall Scotchman come from the oat porridge he ate 
when a boy. British children are kept in subjection 
to rules ; they are made regularly to say their prayers, 
and the catechism ; they are early instructed by 
tutors, and governesses ; and afterward, the boys are 
well whipped at Eton. But our "Young America" 
enjoys quite too much infantile independence ; is too 
mucli left to servants and negroes ; gets his religion 
from the Sunday school — which is, I fear, a pom- sub- 



60 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

stitute for parental supervision and the catechizing 
of the parson ; uses his leading strings as a slow 
match — un mechon — to light his cigars with ; makes 
a byword of " Does your mother know you're out ? " 
and, first thing you know, joins the Order of the 
" I&iow Nothings," for which, indeed, he has eveiy 
qualification. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Th e Wh ite S ic Ip hicr. 

IN the height of the season, there are a liundred 
arrivals a day at the White Sulphur. Tlicn, 
when nobody can get accommodations, everybody 
will insist on being there ; for, in the month of Au- 
gust, the most beautiful ladies of Vii'ginia and the 
South hold their court of love at this fountain ; and, 
their fame going abroad through the moimtains, the 
guests of the other Springs hasten to this centre of 
attraction. All the generals and judges of the 
Southern country, too, then come to drink at these 
white waters. Nobody is of a lower grade than a 
colonel ; and, to be called esquire, would argue a 
man of doubtful consideration. 

To the Northerner, this sounds a little singular ; 
and, if he happens to be a peaceful scholar, for ex- 
ample, who has scarcely j^ulled a trigger in his life, 



62 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and knows only so much of arms as is contained 

in the 

" Arma virumque " 

of the poet, it is not Avithout a certain degree of sur- 
prise, and a keen sense of the kidicrous, that he hears 
himself respectfully dubbed a colonel. 

But not even the being addressed by the very 
highest titles, vvdll, at this part of the season, save a 
single man the necessity of sleeping — two in a cham- 
ber. There are no adequate accommodations for all 
these fine ladies and gentlemen. * At night, the floors 
of drawing rooms and parlors are strewn with mat- 
tresses ; and lucky is the guest who can secure one. 
Trunks are piled uj^,- ceiling high, in the halls and 
passages ; so that, excepting the fortunate inmates 
of the pretty private cottages, the thousand and one 
visitors at the White Sulpliur are, of all men, by no 
means the most miserable, but, probably, the most 
uncomfortable.* 

One August morning, as I was standing in the 
doorway of the office, a well-dressed gentleman 
drove up in a buggy, and, getting out, asked for a 
room. 

" We cannot accommodate you, sir," said the 
clerk, looking at the stranger Avith an air of disinter- 
ested unconcern. 

* A new liotcl has since been erected. 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. G3 

" But you can give me a mattress, or a sofa ? " 
was the confident rejoinder. 

" Impossible ! not one left ; and the last three 
chairs in tlie house taken half an hour ago ! " 

" Boy," said the rejected, but not disconcerted 
new comer, turning his quid from one cheek to the 
other, at the same time that he turned on his heel 
toward a servant, " mistrap my trmik." 

" It really is of no use, sir," continued the clerk, 
calmly ; " we cannot accommodate you." 

" Carry my trunk imder that oak tree, yonder," 
no less quietly added the stranger, and still address- 
ing the black boy. 

" Now," said he, sitting down on the trunk, 
which had been deposited imder the protection of 
the branches, " fetch my buffalo robe ; and I'll be 
d- d if I can't sleep here ! " 

This proof of pluck was an indirect appeal to the 
generous and hospitable sentiments which no true 
Virginian could withstand. There was a general 
clapping of hands on the iitterance of this Diogenic 
resolution to take things as they came, and the luck 
of the pot with them ; and one of the bystanders 
immediately stepping forward, politely offered to 
share his quarters with the tenant of the buffalo 
robe, who, accordingly, instead of living under an 
oak, like a Druid, now found himself the fortunate 



6-1 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

possessor of an ai^artment in one of the j)rettiest cot- 
tages on the grounds. 

In the very height of the season there is no such 
thing as dining satisfactorily at some of the Springs, 
however well a person may fare there at all other 
times. Then, you fee the waiters, and still they 
bring you nothing. Poor fellows, they have nothing 
to bring ! for the flour has given out ; the cows have 
been milked dry ; the mutton has run oft' into the 
mountains ; and the chief cook has gone distracted ! 
If you can manage to seize upon a bit of beef, and a 
slice of bread, 'tis your main chance, and hold on to 
it. Do not rmi any risks in looking about for vege- 
tables, much less for side dishes, or pepper, or salt. 
For, while you are vainly endeavoring to accomplish 
impossibilities, some light-fingered waiter, mider pre- 
tence of changing your plate, will run oft" with your 
only chance of a dinner. 

The scene presents a most ludicrous struggle for 
bones, and cold potatoes. Or, rather, it is fearful to 
Avitness such a desperate handling of the knife ; to 
see so many faces red with rage at getting nothing ; 
and ladies' cheeks pale with waiting ; and starving 
gourmands looking stupefied into the vacuum of the 
platters before them ; and disappointed dyspeptics 
leaving the table Avith an expression on their faces of 
" I'll go hang myself." Add, besides, to Avhat one 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 65 

sees, that which he hears — the maledictions heaped 
liberally upon the heads of cook, and provider ; the 
clatter of what knives and forks succeed in getting 
brought into action ; the whistling and I'oaring of 
Sambo, and the rattling of his heels ; v/ith, now and 
then, an awful crash of chinaware, a slide of plates, 
or an avalanche of whips and custards ; for, where 
there are sevei-al dozens of waiters running up and 
down the hall, like race horses, there must be occa- 
sional collisions ; and these, again, lead to fights, at 
least once, or more, in the season, when a couple of 
strapping black boys knock each other's noses flatter, 
and make their mutual wool fly. Truly, the French- 
man who dines on the hair of his mustache, and the 
end of his toothpick, in front of the Cofe de Paris, 
is a lucky fellow, and has something under his jacket, 
compared with these boarders at tAvo dollars per 
diem. 

But it is still worse dining, when it rains. Tlie 
ancient roofs of some of these halls and piazzas are 
not made of caoutchouc ; and you cannot then sit at 
meat without two black boys at your back — one to 
keep oft' the flies, and the other to hold over your 
head an umbrella. There is a good excuse for the 
soup being thin on such days. 'Tis, in fact, mere 
rain water, with, possibly, a fly, or two, in it. 

All the doctors lay down the rule, that the patient 



66 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

must drink mineral waters on au empty stomach ; 
and, by my troth, it is easy following it, daring the 
height of the season, at some of these Springs. That 
organ is rarely so much occupied in its legitimate 
business as to be in an imfit state to receive a glass 
from the fountain. It is said that Chinamen, when 
hard puslied for other articles of food, can subsist 
tolerably well on water diet ; and, in spending the 
month of August here, one comes gradually to com- 
prehend how the thing can be done. 

" Eat a little milk, a little mush, or a very thin 
soup," said the mineral-water doctor, at one of the 
Springs, after he had looked at my tongue, and was 
still gravely holding me by the pulse, " and drink the 
water ad libitum^'' 

" It is well to diet a little, while drinking the 
spring water," said the landlord to me, soon aftei'- 
ward, in the course of some conversation with him. 

" They both agree in their views," said I to my- 
self ; " and what is sworn to by two disinterested 
witnesses ought certainly to be true. I'll live on 
bread and milk for the next fortnight." 

Luckily for myself, I did not die in the attempt — 
though the price of three or four private dinners, 
which afterward ajipeared in my bill, indicated that 
I must have felt very " far gone " when I ordered 
them. Indeed, such rules are preposterous, and can 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 67 

only be observed with such a long list of exceptions 
as completely disproves them. If I were a doctor — 
peace ! ghost of Abernethy — I would say to my 
patient : 

" Drink thy sulphur water before breakfast, O 
man ! if thou wilt ; but if thou expect ever to derive 
any benefit from it, have a saddle of mutton, or good 
fat steaks, and sherris-sack, for diimer ! " 

Still, one likes to be at the fashionable Springs 
when the crowd is greatest. At the others, it is not 
so. There, he wishes to be well accommodated — to 
have a large, airy apartment — to be well served at 
the table — and to enjoy his quiet, and the society of 
a small circle of friends ; but here, he desires to be 
in the midst of the grand movement. The more 
colonels, the better. The more pretty ladies, the 
gayer. He wants to talk upon politics with all the 
judges ; attack or defend Sebastopol with all the 
generals ; dance attendance on all the well-bred 
dames, and waltz with all their daughters. Half the 
pleasure is in the excitement which proceeds from 
the great number of persons collected together. Let 
the fashionable crowd dwindle dowoi to a few dozens, 
and you leave also. Then you can have an entire 
suite of rooms, and excellent dinners, with a waiter 
at each elbow. But, no. When you see the trunks 
brought down, and hear the farewells said, you are 



68 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

as homesick as anybody, and crowd into the ninth 
place in the coach, rather than run the risk of being 
the last man to leave the mountains. So unreason- 
able are we all. 

" Miss," said the maid of the belle of the White 
Sulphur — it was not her own, as it happened — " dey 
say you be de most handsome young lady in de 
Springs ! " 

" Who says that, Molly ? " inquired the beauty, 
as she stood surveying the slope of her shoulders in 
the mirror, previously to their being veiled in nmslin. 

" Dat say de tall gentle'um from de Kentuck 
State — him wid de black mustachy." 

" You're mistaken, Molly." 

" Can't be, miss ; dat be true as Baptist preachin' 
in de Caroline. I stand in de winder, and see miss 
and dat gentle'um eatin' chicken salad togeder ; and 
what de gentle'um say, a'most make miss choke her- 
self—he ! he ! he ! " 

" Nonsense ! And what, Molly, do you thmk of 
the thin gentleman from the North, with the small, 
blue eyes ? " 

" I see him, tu, at de Spring, afore breakfast ; 
and he so stare at miss, over de top of he's tumbler, 
and sigh so in he's sulph' water, dat I know'd de case 
be done gone wid him." 

"And the short young man, Avith reddish whis- 
kers ? " 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. ' 69 

" Oh, miss ! liim's nice ; him's sweet as 'taters ! 
When he make love, never look back." 

" Molly, you are very foolish. There is nobody 
in love with me." 

" Can't be so, miss ; for, Jim tell me, dat Tom 
tell him, dat when miss tuk her steps in de ballroom, 
last night, all de young gentle'um — and some of de 
ole gentle'um, tu — look gone distract', and a-sinkin' 
through de floor." 

And well they might ; for this young lady was of 
good height, symmetrically formed, with small hands 
and feet ; and while most persons would say she was 
slender, others, again, pronounced her plump. There 
was the faintest possible blush of red in her cheeks, 
and just enough to relieve the exceedingly delicate, 
yet rich, brown tint, which Southern suns had lent to 
her complexion. The auburn ringlets fell in graceful 
profusion till they swept her shoulders. Her large 
hazel eye was as soft as that of a fawn in these 
mountains. In the prevailing expression of her face, 
delicacy and sweetness, intelligence and aflection, 
were equally blended. Her manners, ordinarily, were 
so gentle that they might almost be characterized as 
languid ; and yet, at times, there Avas a degree of 
vivacity in look and motion, a sprightly play of emo- 
tions about the flexible mouth, and even a dance, a 
very masqiierade and merry-making of wits and fan- 



70 ' TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

cies in her eyes, which gave to her whole person such 
an airy, buoyant expression, that the next moment 
you half expected to see her soar upAvard, as easily 
as a hawk to the clouds. 

Surely, the " old families " of Virginia and South 
Carolina are no fable. One sees in their daughters 
that high-born air, that easy grace, that feminine 
delicacy, which shows their blood is gentle ; and, 
like oft-decanted wine, has been refined by being 
poured through the veins of at least three well-born 
generations. A native modesty, self-possessed, and 
startled only by the advances of rudeness, or indeli- 
cacy, indicates an education obtained more in the 
sweet privacy of a rural home, than in the public 
academies of cities — more in the society of relatives 
and familiar friends, than in the company to be met 
with at fashionable hotels and the world's rendez- 
vous. I have nowhere seen young ladies whose pres- 
ence was more hedged about with privacy. And yet 
there is no lack of natural freedom and the play of 
native instinct in their manners. The laugh is gay ; 
the word leaps from the heart ; the confidence is 
given without a suspicion of the possibility of be- 
trayal. It is an artlessness guarded by no premedita- 
tion. But there is, at the same time, a quick, nice 
sense of maidenly propriety, which, though never 
intrusive, still is always putting a gentle restraint 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 71 

upon the action of the impulses, always keeping a 
rein, fine as gossamer, upon the swift rimning of tlie 
tongue, and always guiding the burning chariot 
wheels of nature's passions around all the goals of 
early life with grace, and safety. 

The accomplished belle of the White Sulphur 
liad, to my eyes, the look of a lady who was ncA^er 
expecting admiration but had been ever receiving it. 
From her childhood up, it could not be otherwise 
than that she had been continually surrounded by 
domestic love and chivalrous courtesy. This long- 
continued reflection in her foce, as in the mirror of 
the photograjjhist, of the tenderest and noblest quali- 
ties of the heai-t, had finally left there the likeness of 
their own beautiful form and coloring. She was, her- 
self, the very glass of love and courtesy. Whatever 
was gentle and amiable in her natural disposition had 
been drawn out and fostered by this atmosphere of 
affectionate respect in which she had lived — as the 
rose unfolds more perfectly its beauty in the well-tem- 
I^ered air of the conservatory than when exposed to 
the blight and the worm, the cold and the winds of 
the neglected garden. And, indeed, as there is no 
grace which more becomes a woman than that ex- 
pression of face and manner she derives from the 
interchange of domestic aifection, and from the 
adoration of men of honor and o-enerous sentiments : 



-72 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

SO there is nothing which so effectually withers and 
stains the heavenly bloom of beauty as daily contact 
with only the vicious and the vulgar. 

As for amusements here, do they not consist in 
drinking the waters, bathing, and, three times a day, 
supplying the wants of nature by vigorous efforts 
with the trencher ? A few persons bring their books 
with them as an additional source of entertainment ; 
but most are satisfied with occasionally looking 
through a newspaper, a magazine, or some learned 
treatise that may be lying about, on the use of min- 
eral waters. The gentlemen sit half the morning 
through in easy, wicker-bottom chairs, under the 
trees, conversing on the subject of politics, estima- 
ting the amount of the cotton and rice crops, smoking 
cigars, drinking juleps, commenting on a passing- 
lady, a horse, or a stage coach. Rarely does a Vir- 
ginian propose a walk. He prefers to sit, two hours 
together, beneath the shade. An active, inquisitive 
Yankee will go out, and explore a mountain, or look 
at a neighboring farm, and, returning, find the South- 
erner in the seat where he left him. An alligator in 
the State from which he comes, would not lie on a 
log longer. The Northern-born man, rising, perhaps, 
not much later than the sun, racing up hill and down 
to get what he calls a little exercise, climbing the 
pathless mountains for views of the scenery, and 



THE WHITE 8ULFHUR. -^3 

scouring tlie valley without any purpose whatever, 
unless it be the getting rid of half a day he knows 
not what to do with, is thought by him of the terra 
caliente a sort of madcap, flibbertigibbet, a personifi- 
cation of unreason. The latter will make as much 
effort as may be necessary to back a horse ; if there 
is game, he will occasionally go out w^th dog and 
gun ; and, in a few instances, I have seen him wet a 
line for trout, or it might have been catfish. At ten- 
pins, and at billiards, also, he will play. But, on the 
whole, it is an axiom with him, that too much exer- 
cise, as well as too much learning, will make a man 
mad. He, therefore, disparages both. 

For any man livmg on the sumiy side of the 
Union, to do nothing seems to be no labor ; and he 
kills his time, apparently, without the pains of giving 
it a thought. After a while, indeed, all the visitors 
at these Springs learn more or less of the ai't of get- 
ting through the sunmier day easily. One begma 
with taking no note of the hour of the day, then lets 
his watch run down, and finally forgets the day of 
the week, and the month — all being alike, save Sun- 
day. The morning papers he has ordered from 
town, come to hand several days old, and with such 
irregularity that, generally, the contradiction of the 
news arrives before the news itself ; so that, at last, 

he comes to the conclusion that at the end of the 

4 



i4 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

watering season nothing of importance will have 
hai)i)eued, and he sets his mind at rest. 

As for the ladies, without knowing all the little 
ways they have of amusing themselves^ one sees in 
their sweet faces that they are happy. They are, 
also, the cause of by far the greater part of the hai> 
piness there is in these watering places. If, by any 
strange fatality, the air of the Alleghanies should 
become fatal to ringlets, and the mineral waters 
wash the red out of the peach in the cheek, how 
soon would all these fair scenes revert to the origmal 
savages ! But, fortunately, Avhile woman lends a 
portion of her grace to the mountains, the grateful 
rocks repay the gift by endowing her with powers 
of enchantment superior even to those of old con- 
ferred on the Medea of the Caucasus. In the eyes 
of some man or other, every lady here is an enchan- 
tress. Scarcely was there a young man in the moun- 
tains, dm-ing the two seasons I spent there, who did 
not seem, at times, to be imder the influence of illu- 
sions, more or less soft and roseate. Even my boy, 
Custopol, was obliged to confess to me, one day, that 
when, on the preceding Saturday night, Mary Jane 
came out in her yellow skirt and green bodice with 
a basque to it, a purple kerchief twisted round her 
braided hair, on her feet red morocco slippers, and 
gold drops pendent from her oars ; and Avhen he put 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 75 

his arm around her waist, and they went doAvn the 
boards together, while Pompey, in the corner, 
" picked " his banjo, and all the " darkeys " in the 
place stood up and down the kitchen ; and when 
Mary Jane, turning softly up her eyes, let him look 
by the half minute together into the whites of them ; 
or, dancing roimd, poked her elbow in his ribs, and, 
grinning, pulled his whisker — even Custy was obliged 
to confess that he felt the tender passion. 

The imagination, in fact, is as much exalted here 
above its ordinary level, as the mountains are higher 
than tide water. Hence, it will happen that a man, 
who, on coming to these Springs, had no more 
thought in his head of entering on the state of 
matrimony than he had of making a fortune, finds, 
before he has drunk and bathed a week, that he is in 
the most imminent danger of making proj^osals. Of 
course, there is no such thmg ever dreamed of as 
match-making at the White Sulphur. For that pre- 
supposes coldness of blood, and a lively activity of 
the calculating faculties ; whereas life in the moun- 
tains stimulates only the fantastic fancy, and the 
more romantic sentiments. No ; neither party is 
entrapped. On the contrary, what in the world is 
more natural, when youth and maid drink together, 
every day, out of the same Sulphur Spring, than that 
they should have corresponding sensations in the 



-76 TO DIXIE ANT) THE TROPICS. 

region of the heart ? They both look into the same 
pool ; there cannot be two opinions between them 
respecting the taste of the water ; they make j^re- 
cisely the same exclamations in tlieir attempts at 
swallowing it ; they behold the self-same expression 
of face reflected in each other's eyes as they set 
down the cup ; and so, in a midtitude of instances, 
before the lovers, feeling decidedly mawkish, if not 
desperately sick at heart, get back to the hotel, the 
monientons qnestion is popped, and answered. 

Love-making, therefore, may fairly be set down 
as one of the amusements of the Virginia Springs ; 
whether it turn out to be really diverting to the pai'- 
ties concerned — cela dtpend. But, in any event, 
there will always be somebody, v/ho, quietly looking 
on from a distance, will extract more or less enter- 
tainment from the general aspects of the case, and 
who, especially if it is seen to go hard with the 
swam, as it often may, will really enjoy the agony, 
as one does a farce Avhen they play tragedy at Wal- 
lack's. 

Probably there is no better place in the States 
for the study of character and manners than these 
Springs — and this, too, is an amusement. Sometimes 
lialf a dozen words let fall in casual conversation will 
tlirow as much light on the dispositions of men, and 
the worldng of their institutions, as a novel in two 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 77 

duodecimos, the reading of which will require half 
a day. 

" Jim," said a gentleman from Louisiana, travel- 
ling by the stage coach to the Bath Alum, " Jim, 
come inside here, and let me have your place up 
there." 

• " Massa," replied the negro, almost as confidently 
as if he had been his son, " dere's room enough here 
for two." 

" Jim," again said the gentleman, after he had 
taken his seat by the side of the black boy, on the 
top of the coach, " to-night you will see Sally ; for 
we shall meet Master William at the Alum." 

" I'se riglit glad of dat," was the reply — Sally 
being the maid of Master William's wife, and proba- 
bly a good friend of Jim's. 

" Jim," said the master, once more, addressing 
the boy after half an hour's conversation with my- 
self, " did you ever see mountains before ? " 

" Oh, yes, massa ; de river mountains on de 
Mis'sij)pi." 

*' You mean when you were in Tennessee." 

" 'Xactly— dat was in Teu'see." 

This same Jim, shortly afterward turning round 
towatd another negro, like himself, about sixteen 
years of age, and sitting on the luggage, said : 

" Csesar, look at dat line of mount'ns yonder ; up 



78 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and down — jist as reg'lar as you could draw 'em wid 
a piece of chalk ! " 

" Even the dusky soul of the poor African, then, 
in its better moods," said I to myself, " is capable of 
being touched by the grace of nature ; and feels, in 
the jDresence of these mountain tops, its dull facul- 
ties aroused and strangely fascinated by the uuwfit- 
ten Word of God ! " 

Another source of pleasure upon Avhich none of 
the guests can refrain from relying, more or less, is 
the arrival of the stage coach. Let it happen how- 
ever often in the day, it is still an important event. 
One expects his friends ; or, if not, somebody may 
come he has met before ; at any rate he must see 
who is there. 

Down gets the first gentleman from the coach. 
He is tall, wdth a large proportion of bone in him, 
and only a moderate supply of muscle. His rather 
long brown hair is brushed, like a Methodist minis- 
ter's, off his forehead, which is a high one, but not 
broad. The well-tanned face indicates vigorous 
health, though a little sulphur water Avill be no dis- 
advantage to tlie owner's liver. The air of calm 
self-possession marks the man accustomed to com- 
mand ; while the slow gait and quiet motions suggest 
tlic habit of overseeing Avork instead of performing 
it. The blue dress coat with brass buttons, Avhich 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 79 

is neither old nor new, together with light-colored 
pantaloons, black satin vest, dark silk cravat, and 
broad-brimmed felt hat, belong evidently to a gentle- 
man somewhat careless of personal appearance, but 
of independent circumstances ; in short, it requires 
no epaulettes to convince you at a glance that the 
stranger is a colohel from one of the eastern coimties 
of Virginia. 

When his luggage is taken down, you will find 
that it consists of a leather trunk covered with small 
brass knobs and marked Avith the owner's name, in 
full, together with those of his coimty and State ; on 
the top of it is strapped a heavy overcoat, while at 
one end dangle an extra pair of boots. The colonel 
travels without a hatbox ; but has, instead, a well- 
worn pair of saddle bags, which are filled with the 
smaller articles of his wardrobe and such " traps " 
as he may very likely want on the journey. 

On acquaintance, he proves to be a man of good 
plain sense, who belongs to what he denominates the 
Jeifersonian party in politics, tills the paternal acres 
very much after the fashion of his father before him, 
has, generally, a suit or two pending in the courts of 
law, but is as goodnatured as he is highminded, and 
really liates nobody. Once introduced, he will ask 
you to take a julep with him. 

The general moves in more state ; he arrives in 



80 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

his own coach and two, or even four — for this old- 
fashioned turnout has not yet entirely disappeared in 
the progress of civilization and the rail. He may, 
also, have two or three outriders, in the shape of 
sons, on ponies, and black boys riding mares. Sons, 
servants, mares and horses, they are all of his OAvn 
raising ; but the carriage, possibly, may have be- 
longed to his father or some of his ancestors ; for it 
is after the ancient English model, round topped, 
heavily timbered, and possessing the property, like 
Homer's heroes, of never growing old. The trunks 
being piled up behind, and to them attached a water 
pail, the footman is obliged to squeeze himself into 
what of the narrow seat in front is left by the 
driver. 

The latter is an old whip, whatever his age may 
be. Though without gloves, he handles the ribbons 
with a careful precision, as if the leaders were every 
moment about to sjiring into a run ; though in shoes, 
his immense feet hold well by the footboard ; and in 
a mere jacket, instead of the official capes, he pro- 
duces, by means of his .spread elbows, and blown-up 
air, scarcely less of a sensation than the coachman of 
my Lord Mayor of London. 

When this whole affair SAveej)S i;p to the door of 
the hotel, the excited landlord, especially if it be a 
four-in-hand, rings his bell -with a fury Avhich indi- 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 81 

cates that something extraordmary has happened ; 
and the servants come nmning, as if they expected 
to Avitness the arrival of a dozen stage coaches at 
once. But 'tis even more than that ; 'tis a Virginian 
general, with horses and mares, black boys and 
maids, wife and children. The hair of every waiter 
in the house woul^. stand straight on end, but for the 
curl in it ! 

The landlord opens the carriage door himself, hat 
in hand ; and the general gets out. He is a shorter 
man than the colonel by a half inch, or more. He 
has a broader and still more open face, a wider back, 
and carries a respectable corporation before him. 
His clothes are thin, the colors light, and his face is 
red ; while down out of his fob hangs a heavy gold 
chain, with two ponderous, ancestral seals, and a key 
between. The general takes off his white beaver 
courteously to the colonel, who instantly steps for- 
ward to shake him by the hand. 

While these congratulations are being exchanged, 
down the carriage steps carefully comes Dinah. She 
is dressed mostly in white, and has a cotton kerchief 
of this color, striped with blue, tied so completely 
over her hair, that only enough of it remains in sight 
to show that it is becoming silvered o'er with the 
pale cast of age ; while, over the kerchief and 
directly on the back of her head, is set a bonnet of 
4* 



82 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

open straw and muslin, originally made for the gen- 
eral's pretty daughter when she entered her teens, 
and so small, withal, that it serves merely to cover 
the good dame's cerebellum. 

The baby is then handed out to Dmah ; the rest 
follow ; and when the tnmks have been taken down, 
and the carriage pockets emptied, Cufiy, the coach- 
man, effects his exit with a crack of the whip, such 
as makes not only his own horses, but all those 
within an eighth of a mile, jump — each one as 
though it were about his own ears the lash was 
playing. 

And when, any time within the next half hour, 
the respectable Virginia farmer, or esquire, well- 
to-do at home, rides up to the hotel door on his 
nag, a greatcoat rolled up and tied, together with an 
umbrella, behind the saddle, and a pair of leathern 
bags, containing a scanty change of apparel, project- 
ing beneath his thighs, the careless landlord scarcely 
deigns to touch the bell once. A sleepy-looking 
negro holds the new comer's bridle while he dis- 
mounts ; another, lazily taking the saddle bags on his 
shoulders, and the roll imder his arm, conducts him 
to his chamber ; and there is no more noise made 
over the arrival, compared with the previous excite- 
ment, than might be Ukened to the blowing of a horn 
reversed. 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 83 

For the rest, there are a dozen or more of these 
Springs. They all lie in the pretty Alleghanian val- 
leys, within an easy day's, or half day's drive from 
each other — the White Sulphur being in the centre. 
The roads are generally good, Avith enough which 
are bad to accommodate tliose who require a little 
jolting. The stage coaches are Avell built ; the dri- 
vers are skilful ; and a dash on the outside of the 
carriage through these hills refreshes and invigorates, 
instead of fatiguing the traveller. In fact, the now 
almost obsolete pleasure of journeying by wheel may 
here be enjoyed in its perfection, Avitli social chat, 
preceded by no formal introductions, with acquaint- 
ances, and, perhaps, friends made, whom it will 
always be a pleasure to remember, and Avith such 
good, plain fare, at roadside inns, as the sharpened 
appetite will j)ron ounce better than the very chef- 
cTcevres of cooks in town. 

The Springs are of all Avaters, having for their 
principal ingredients sulphur, alum, iron, magnesia, 
or salt. They are also tri-colored, Avith deposits, 
white, red, and blue. Some are used for drinking, 
and some for bathing. The invalid may have his 
choice ; and Avhatever his complaint, say the doctors, 
it makes no difference — he is sure to be cured. The 
cripple is set up at the Hot Springs, and the malade 
imaginalre is made Avhole at the Warm. The dys- 



84 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPIC S. 

peptic is put on alum water, and the South westerner, 
with bile in his blood and jaundice in his eyes, is 
ordered to drink of the White Sulphur or the Salt. 
The Healing Spring is good for the gout ; ladies, 
weary after the winter's dancing, are strengthened 
by bathing in the two Sweet "Waters ; the Blue Sul- 
phur, taken before eating venison steaks, is said to 
be excellent against all devils of the same color ; and 
ever since the publication of the learned Dr. Burke's 
book, it is every man's own fjiult if he don't know 
that the Red Sulphur is a certain cure for consump- 
tion. 

The summer climate of these mountains is truly 
delightful. The boimdless forests on their tops are, 
indeed, a magnet for the clouds ; so that rain often 
occurs m the day's chapter of accidents. But it is 
merely a passing shower — a dash of big, fast-falling 
drops — soon gone over the hills and far away. The 
water runs immediately off the declivities, the drops 
hang only a few moments from leaf and flower, and 
the brilliant sun, dissipating the vapors, dries the sur- 
face of the ground and takes away all dampness. 

It is hot in the sunlight ; but you live perj^etually 
embowered in shade. In that, the mercury daily 
stands square against the point of sunnner heat, or, 
occasionally, a little above it, so that one revels in 
fine linen ; and if he makes any use of the mint 



THE WHITE SULPHUR. 85 

which grows invitingly by every pathside, it is more 
as a luxury than a necessity. Sitting imdcr the oaks, 
or promenading on the piazza, the summer idler finds 
that he can keep cool from one end of the dog days 
to the other, without so much as touching a straw. 
This, to some persons, may be rather provoking than 
otherwise. But with such pure air to breathe, fanned 
by the softest breezes, instead of being whipped by 
the winds of the sea-shore bathing place, and nightly 
refreshed by sleep beneath a blanket, if you will, but 
with windows wide open, and disturbed by no worse 
serenading than that of the banjo, a man is suffi- 
ciently happy without stimulus, or excitements of 
any kmd. To look out upon the green pastures and 
the luxuriant woods — to wind gently up the hilltops, 
or stroll by the side of brooks — to watch the never- 
ceasing play of light and shade on the mountains 
and in the valleys, and to gaze at the fantastic shapes 
of the s nmer clouds, now drifting in fleeces 
through th' sky, now towering in gorgeous peaks 
and ranges bore the horizon, and, at evening, aglow 
with all tlie prismatic flames which burst from the 
apparent disruption of the setting sun — to do all this 
is, indeed, to forget the more highly scented cups of 
civic dissipation, as well as the rile in the mug of the 
world's ordinary toil, and to live m the midst of such 
innocent delights as by the poets are f\ibled to lie 
around its infimcy. 



CHAPTER TIL 

Through Virghiia and Carolina. 

ONCE more out of the mountains, I find myself 
among the plantations of Eastern Virginia. 
It is a district of country where the soil is often of a 
rich yelloAV, or mulberry color, and broA^'Tl donkeys 
are ploughing it early in February ; where zigzag 
fences are laid twelve rails high, and not a stake in 
them ; whei'e hay and corn remain through the win- 
ter stacked in the fields ; where the forests are strewn 
with gigantic trunks left lying as they fell, and the 
green foliage is sprinkled over with the white of 
large jirojecting branches which liave been splin- 
tered, or twisted off by storm and tempest ; where 
the houses often look top-heavy, and tumble down, 
though supported by strong chimneys of brick or 
stone, built on the outside ; where the wagons, can- 
vas-covered, are shajjed like whale boats, and are 
drawn by from four to six mules, v/ith Uncle Tom 



THROUGH VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA. 87 

on the back of the nigh leader ; where ladies traAel 
with guitars, and gentlemen with saddle bags, ne- 
groes in white woollen blankets, and negresses in 
pink ribbons ; where, emerging from the pine woods, 
young misses enter the train, robed in shawls bought 
at Berlin for not less money than would suffice to 
purchase a small negro, and the young gentlemen 
who accompany them, sprawl over two seats in every 
variety of attitude, excepting that of the Apollo 
Belvidere ; where the traveller starts on his journey 
by rail at four o'clock in the morning, and stops a 
whole hour at seven for breakfast ; where, driven to 
the hotel in nothing less than a 'bus and four, he is 
received by a cloud of negroes, the chambemiaids 
being superb in white aprons,^ and variegated tur- 
bans, and all anxious to do something for " Missis ; " 
while the boys, met at every turn, are either in dan- 
ger of running down " Massa," or are sui-e, when 
wanted, to be running away from him ; now making 
their obeisance halfway down to the floor, and the 
next moment laughing behind his back until mouth 
and ears meet ; most of them oiled hi the joints to 
such a degree as scarcely to be able to stand up, and 
the rest threatening to tumble doAvn from stujjidity, 
and sleepy-headedness. 

I passed through one, and but one neat village 
(tliat of A——) on my way from the mountains to 



88 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Ricliraoiid. The latter is a thrifty town, rather pic- 
turesquely placed on hill and river side ; and is made 
pleasant in winter by the magnolia, the arbor vita?, 
and various evergi-eens. Here I went to see Craw- 
ford's equestrian statue of Washington. The figures 
of Henry and Jefferson, which stand on the base of 
the monument, are admirably done ; the former ex- 
hibiting the impassioned orator in full action, and 
contrasting pleasantly with the more quiet, thought- 
ful attitude of the writer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. But on seeing the figure of Washington, 
my first impression was that this modest, great man, 
if he could have been consulted about the matter, 
would much have preferre<l, instead of being ele- 
vated so high in the air, to stand more nearly on a 
level with the illustrious patriots below. On behold- 
ing him at that awkward height, the spectator hardly 
feels that he is in the presence of the father of his 
country ; for the expression of the countenance is 
lost in midhoaven. Whoever approaches the raoni;- 
ment near enough to get a good view of the statues 
at the base, on looking up to that above, sees little 
else than the nnder side of the immense horse's 
belly. There may be good cause, to be sure, for 
placing an equestrian statue in an elevated position, 
as on the pediment of a temjjle, or on a natural emi- 
nence ; but as this monument stands on high ground, 



THROUGH VmaiNIA AND CAROLINA. 89 

where it can easily be seen at a distance, there seems 
to be no good reason for erecting so lofty a pedestal. 

The Washington in the State House, close at 
hand, by Houdon, interested me more, notwithstand- 
ing its French strut, and lack of idealization. For, 
with these exceptions, it is the great man himself left 
behind in marble, and dressed, and looking as he 
actually did when in full life. Indeed, the ligiire of 
Washington is itself so sublime, that all attempts of 
art to sublimate it have hitherto not been successful. 

On leaving Richmond, the traveller going South 
will do well to save his appetite until his arrival at 
Wilmington, where I can safely promise him, at least, 
good white Johnny-cake. Here it was, on the ninth 
of February, that I tasted my first shad of the sea- 
son, making no bones of it. Throughout the dinner 
a black boy stood behind my chair, Avith his hands 
resting on the back of it ; and, on receiving my 
orders, started suddenly to my side, as if waked out 
of a reverie. Then, shooting off headlong on my 
errand, and headlong returning, he again relapsed 
into his previous state of semi-somnolency, and hung 
suspended from the chair-back. The hotel is not 
exactly a fit subject for a eulogy ; still I rested very 
comfortably in it durmg a day and a night. 

Like so many other Southern cities, Wilmuigton 
is a town built on the sands. A seaport, it eujoys a 



90 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

large and profitable trade in turpentine, besides doing 
a lively little business in fine-cut tobacco, and various 
Southern " notions," It contains a few moderately 
well-looking bouses, scattered about among a great 
many half-painted and dilapidated ones. I saw 
scarcely a wall without a brick loose, or a fence 
without a board off, or any Avork in cement that had 
not a crack in it. The yards in front of the houses, 
however, were pleasant with evergreens, and climb- 
ing plants ; and the coming spring had here scat- 
tered in advance the first camellias, hyacinths, and 
daffodils. 

[ " The rail from Richmond to Charleston took me 
through a country exhibiting fewer marks of civili- 
zation than I had anticipated. To the very end 
of the journey, my surprise was repeatedly ex- 
cited at passing through forests beyond forests, in- 
terspersed only by more or less extensive clear- 
ings. Even in these, many of the corn and cotton 
fields were pretty well filled with stumps and the 
stems of broken, half-decayed trees, left standing by 
the axe and the firebrand. The two Carolinas I 
found as rough as Ohio ; while Illinois^ with its culti- 
vated prairies, might almost pass for an (fid country 

J in comparison with them. Nearly the whole stretch 
of these Southern pine woods is as level, too, as any 
jM'nirie ; and many districts, in consequence of recent 



THROUGH VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA. 91 

heavy rains, were little better than a Ruccession of 
dismal swamps. Even the noble pines themselves, 
tall, slender, and tapering as were their stems, and 
sometimes beantifnlly spreading their tops, like the 
stone pines of Italy, yet being disfigured by the axe 
for the sake of their sap, which is manufactured into 
turpentine, present such conspicuous scars as to make 
the otherwise fair woods look ghastly enough to be 
the haunts of ghosts. 

Indeed, the poor whites who mostly inhabit these 
openings in the forests are scarcely less haggard than 
sprites. They would be equally pale, also, but that 
they arc so yellow. Theirs is the genuine fever-and- 
ague complexion, more or less modified in this rainy 
season by the color of the mud wherein they live, 
and move, and have their being. Fortunately, their 
hovels are made of logs instead of clay ; otherwise 
these, too, would gradually be dissolved in water. 
The dress of these natives of the woods was, cer- 
tainly, when I saw it, in a great many instances fast 
coming to nought. At best, it was coarse and neg- 
lected ; while the general aspect of life was Ioav and 
almost brutish. 

At the end of two days of travelling, it wns 
truly a relief to emerge from these pine-groAvn re- 
gions, and see, on approaching the suburbs of 
Charleston, a greater variety of forest trees. The 



92 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

oaks now preponderated, their boughs liung with 
gray moss and their trunks often draped with climb- 
ing evergreens. In low places, the maples were 
hanging out their crimson buds and fringes. At the 
same time, the sun, breaking through the heavy 
clouds which had for several days obscured the heav- 
ens, poured a flood of golden light over the tender 
foliage, over the city, and the bay ; and, genially 
warmmg the air, gave promise that I Avas here to 
meet the spring thus far advanced on its way north- 
ward from the equator and the shores of the Ca- 
ribbean. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Charleston. 

I THIRST of all I went to the races. For I had 
begun to hear the February races in Charles- 
ton talked of as far north as Washington, and had 
been told much of the fine horses, ranch of the beau- 
tiful women, who, in grande toilette, grace these fes- 
tive occasions. Unfortunately, the twelfth of Febru- 
ary brought with it gentle showers of rain ; but, 
heavy as was the course, I had rarely seen in the 
States better running. The horses were ridden by 
slips of black boys, whom, at first sight, I thought 
scarcely equal to the task, but who, in the end, 
proved themselves to be born Jehus. Like the 
steeds, they must have been bred specially for the 
race course. I forget, at this moment, what the time 
made was ; but the horses were so well matched as 
to come in almost neck and neck. 

As to the ladies, they were not to be cheated out 



94 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

of their holiday by the rain. They were there in 
full feather ; in ermine and point lace ; in light bro- 
cades and cashmeres of India. They were there in 
the latest tiouveautes • gay with flowers and grace- 
ful with fringes, as Avell as in perfect little loves of 
parasols, and fans fluttering with coquetry. One or 
two dowagers sported their diamonds and jewels 
moi'e appropriate for the ballroom. Nearly all, as it 
seemed to me, were rather over-dressed for the occa- 
sion ; though, as it is the fashion of the Charles- 
tonians to jDut on new bonnets for the February 
races, as the Philadelphians do at Easter, perhaps the 
temptation to make too much of the toilet at this 
time might well be irresistible. Still, bright colors 
do not harmonize with dark skies ; the reason why 
they are always so becoming in the tierras ealientes of 
Spain and Italy being because the air there is full of 
resplendent light, and so many of nature's tints are 
high-toned. But at the Charleston race course, noth- 
ing was gorgeous save the silks and ribbons ; for, 
while heavens of lead overhung an earth scarcely yet 
green, even the cheeks of the fair were pale, and 
their eyes lacked the lustre of the south of Europe. 
They w^ere, however, sufliciently pretty and high- 
bred. 

The lords of this part of creation, likewise, were 
tall and fine-looking ; though it struck me that tlieir 



CHARLESTON. 95 

easy morning costumes, if adapted to the occasion, 
were not quite in harmony with the elaborate toilets 
of the sex. Certain it is, that the tip-top beaux were 
generally dressed in overcoats, sacks, raglans, sticks, 
and umbrellas. I could but think, also, that many 
of them carried a trifle too much weight in the 
watch chain, and, in some instances, selected their 
waistcoats of a crimson slightly too emphatic for the 
black of their pantaloons. But, on the whole, the 
crowd of clubmen were well attired ; and I did not 
see among them a single specimen of the black-satin- 
vest gentry. 

For the rest, considering that ladies came to the 
race in full dress, I was a little surprised at seeing 
that the floor of the saloon wherein they were assem- 
bled was, in places, wet with tobacco juice, and 
sprinkled with nutshells. Lads, whose bringing up 
in the best families of the town should have taught 
them better, threw the shells on the floor as uncere- 
moniously as if they had been in a beer garden, or a 
cockpit. Even a lady arrayed in ermine, and deep 
frills of Chantilly lace, who was hiding a court, at 
the moment, consisting of four gentlemen, all in 
waxed mustaches, suffered two out of the four to 
stand in her presence munching peanuts. 

It may be added, that, with few exceptions, the 
elegantly arrayed ladies present on this occasion to 



96 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

witness the running, and receive the admiration of 
the handsome members of the Jockey Club, were 
unmarried ; and that the presence of a somewhat 
larger number of matrons would have imparted a 
little more dignity to the festivity, without detract- 
ing too much from its grace. 

To return to town. My first impressions of 
Charleston were extremely agreeable. It was a 
pleasant thing to find an American city containing 
so many memorials of the times colonial, and not 
wearing the appearance of havmg been all built yes- 
terday. The atmosphere, charged with an miusual 
dampness in consequence of the low position of the 
town on coast and river bank, helps materially to 
deepen the marks of years ; soon discoloring the 
paint upon the houses and facilitating the progress 
of the green moss, which here is ever creeping over 
the northern side of roofs and walls. Tlie whole 
towm looks picturesquely dingy, and the greater num- 
ber of buildings have assumed something of the ap- 
pearance of European antiquity. Tiie heavy brick 
walls and tlie high gateways are such as one sees 
in London or Paris. Many front doors and piazzas 
had been wrought after the graceful models brought 
from England in the old colonial jieriod. The veran- 
das, story above stoiy, and generally looking toward 
the south, or the sea, form another pleasant feature 



CHARLESTON. <)7 

in the prevailing style of building. Nor less attrac- 
tive are the gardens and courtyards invariably at- 
tached to the best houses, where, in winter, the 
hedges are gi'een with pitosporum and the dwarf 
orange ; and Avhere blow the first fragrant violets 
and daffodils of spring. Here, in February, I beheld 
with delight the open rose, and camellias so numer- 
ous as to redden the ground they fell upon ; also, the 
wild orange bursting with Avhite buds, and the peach 
tree in full blossom, as well as the humble strawberry 
at its foot. Stopping at one of these lofty gateways, 
and looking through the quaint, old-fashioned gra- 
tings, I could not help repeating the lines of Goethe 

" Ein sanfter AVind vom blaueu Himmel weht, 
Die Myrte still und hocli der Lorber stcht." 

These charming gardens, in ' connection with the 
piazzas resting on ornamental pillars, make the whole 
town graceful. One sits, in the morning, in these 
open chambers, inhaling the refreshing air from the 
sea, its perfume mingled with that of the flowers 
beloAV ; and, at midday, closing the Venetian shut- 
ters to exclude the sun, he rests in grateful shade. 
Here, too, throughout the longer portion of the year, 
may be spread, at evenmg, the tea table ; while the 
heavens still glow Avith the purple and amber of the 



98 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

sunset. And here lingers the family until the bells 
from the tower of St. Michael's, sweetly ringing 
their silver chimes through the calm, starry air, an- 
nounce, at last, the hour of repose. 

Many invalids from the North, delighted Avith 
these Southern balconies and these melodious even- 
ing bells, with this soft air and genial simshine, with 
the lovely promenade of the ever grass-green Bat- 
tery, and with the pleasing prospect of the bay, 
never the same with its coming and going ships, are 
tempted to linger here the winter through, nor go 
farther southward in their search for health or pleas- 
ure. But the climate of Charleston, if soft — soft, 
even, as that of Rome — is damp, and exceedingly 
variable. The consiimptive invalid, therefore, should 
never dally long with these sea breezes, nor stay to 
pluck these flowers. He should proceed onward as 
far as St. Augustine, or inland to the dry, sandy hill 
country. 

In winter, many of the Avealthy South Carolinian 
planters come to Charleston to enjoy the gay season 
of February ; and a few spend several months here 
for the sake of the greater advantages in educating 
their children. But all come to town with less pa- 
rade than did the grand seigneurs of the generation 
preceding. For a quarter of a century, the number 
of coaches and four has been gradually diminishing. 



CHARLESTON. 99 

Fewer outriders herald the planter's advance. The 
family carriage has groAvn a little rickety, and the 
worse for wear ; though the horses are still well 
blooded, and Sambo holds the reins with cheeks as 
full, and shoulders as widely spreading. Compara- 
tively few are the masters who nowadays pass 
through the country with a retinue of from fifteen to 
twenty servants ; who, at a wedding, or other festive 
occasion, open wide their doors to all comers, enter- 
taining troops of friends, twoscore and more, with 
for every one a couch, as well as for every one a 
month's welcome. Fiddling, indeed, has not died 
out ; and Pompey still draws his bow, and beats his 
banjo with as much ardor as in the days of yore. 
At the merry-makings, there is dancing every night 
in the parlor, as well as plenty of giggling and roar- 
ing in the kitchen. Five-and-twenty varieties of corn 
cake may be served at breakfast ; the pot of hominy, 
like the widow's cruse, is inexhaustible ; the bacon 
makes the table groan ; though certainly the number 
of pipes of wine annually laid down is getting every 
year less ; nor do I believe thex-e can be many nabobs 
left, who, in purchasing their supplies in town at the 
beginning of the season, do not fail to include a 
hogshead of castor oil for their little negroes. 

The February balls in Charleston are scarcely less 
known to fame than the races. The most select and 



100 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

fashionable are those of the Saint Cecilia, and they 
have been given here from times rmming back past 
the memory of all the dancers now living. Only the 
gentry and the more favored strangers are admitted. 
They go at ten o'clock, and stay until three. The 
attendance, however, is principally confined to the 
younger portion of the fashionable community, who, 
before setting off for the dance, see the mammas and 
papas comfortably to bed. I observed that even the 
young married ladies attracted but little attention 
from the beaux ; and, in fixct, I was repeatedly told, 
that whenever a bride was led to the altar, she, after- 
ward, went in society, as a matter of course, to the 
wall. Even the bride, who comes from other parts 
of the country to find in this hospitable city a home, 
runs imminent risk of receiving but few marks of 
courtesy from any gentleman not married. She may 
be beautiful, accomplished, and elegantly dressed ; 
but the beaux will look at her, if they deign to look 
at her at all, with blank, mute admiration. This, in 
a city so famed as Charleston is for gallantry of man- 
ners, struck me as a little singular. I saw many fair 
yoimg ladies among the dancers, and the prevailing 
style of toilet was characterized by simphcity as w^ell 
as elegance. Some waltzing, also, I noticed, as grace- 
ful as that which may be seen in the countries where 
the waltz is at home. Of flowers, however, whether 



CHARLESTON. 101 

as an ornament for the person, or the apartments, 
there were quite too few ; and it seemed as though 
the profusion with which nature, in the more genial 
seasons of the year, furnishes these decorations, had 
led to the neglect of their cultivation by artificial 
means in winter. 

From the presence of two races, the streets of 
Charleston have a pepper-and-salt aspect. The blacks 
are almost as numerous as the whites, but are gen- 
erally of smaller stature. I saw very few slaves, 
either male or female, who were of large size ; still 
fewer Avho were good-looking. As an exception, 
however, in the matter of size, I noticed one portly 
dame striding down the street in broad-brimmed hat, 
and staiF, who appropriated to her own use nearly the 
whole of the sidewalk, and swaggered with an im- 
portance Avhich plainly marked her as having author- 
ity in the kitchen of one of the proudest families of 
Charleston. On Sunday, the negroes I saw airing 
themselves on their way to church appeared to good 
advantage, being respectful in manners, and, for the 
most part, becomingly plain in dress. Tlie aged 
dames were in turbans containing only a fcAV modest 
stripes, though worn pretty high. The younger 
damsels showed, of course, more love for drest hig 
like white folki* One dainty miss, with large, liquid 
eyes, and the deep red breaking through her colored 



102 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

cheek, like the vermilion streaming through dark 
clouds that lie athwart the sunset, made herself gay 
in a French cashmere ; another displayed her jaxmty 
modesty in Canton crape ; Avhile the principal colored 
belle of the promenade held up her rich black silk to 
exhibit an elaborately embroidered petticoat. The 
other sex were decently clad, and scarcely in a single 
instance that came under my observation, grotesquely. 
They showed, occasionally, a little red in their cra- 
vats — sometimes a little buff. But not even on the 
coach box did Pompey go much beyond a brass 
buckle in his hat, and ^^urple plush in his waistcoat. 
On the whole, therefore, the colored jjalmetto gentry 
seemed to me to have learned demureness from their 
betters ; though there was, perhaps, as much grin- 
nmg and giggling as was decent on a Sunday. 

But the next day being a half holiday, in conse- 
quence of the Governor's review, I was surprised at 
seeing crowds of nurses in bandanna tnrbans, and 
sable urchins in caps so gay as to need nothing biifc 
belles to set them all ringing. The sunny afternoon 
air was quite filled with the kites of these small black 
boys. Their loud, tmnultuous laughter mingled 
pleasantly with the music of drum, and fife, and bag- 
pipe ; while, by nightfall, the circles of aU eyes had 
grown visibly larger from gazing at tJie plumes and 
glitter of the militiamen. With special pleasure I 



CHARLESTON. 103 

remember the sight, on that afternoon, of a pair of 
brats about the size of Murillo's beggar boys, and as 
mucli like them as blacks can be like Spaniards. 
They occupied the same position, also, against a 
sunny wall, and were in the same need of having 
their heads combed ; the one being happily intent on 
smoking a broken clay pipe, and the other gazing at 
vacancy with a degree of tranquil animal satisfaction 
which distended his half-shining, half-unwashed skin 
wellnigh to cracking. 

It Avas but a sorry entertainment to visit the slave 
market ; yet, one fine morning, attracted by the auc- 
tioneei-'s" flag, I dropped in. There was but one 
small lot on the block, evidently a badly damaged 
lot of merchandise ; and I did not hear a single bid 
for them. One old woman, however, by trade a 
cook, was put up for sale separately. She was, at the 
time, half seas over, and might very likely have been 
thus exposed by her master for the sake of frighten- 
ing her into better behavior. But, if such had been 
the purpose, the failure of the experiment was com- 
l^lete ; for, when she saw that not a single bid was 
made for such a sinner, slie exclaimed, with a pro- 
digiously broad leer of satisfaction, " Nobody want 
dis ole nigger ? Well, I goes back to massa." 

For piety and church-going the negroes are as 
remarkable as the Charlestonians themselves. They 



104 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

like to sing psalms and to deliver to each other the 
solemn word of exhortation. Their labor in prayer 
resembles the wrestling of Jacob with the angel ; 
though, in this exercise, they sometimes get them- 
selves on the hip. Their masters and mistresses, 
however, I am sorry to say, are in the habit of 
making the observation, that a negro's Sunday faith 
has but a loose connection with his Aveek-day con- 
duct. Moved, myself, one Sunday evening, to sit 
under colored preaching, I accepted the invitation of 
a friend to visit one of the conventicles attended ex- 
clusively by negroes. On entering the large and 
commodious building, we were politely shown up the 
broad aisle to a seat directly in front of the pulpit, it 
being the chief seat in tlie synagogue, and one ex- 
pressly reserved for Avhite folks. Thereupon the 
wink was tipped to the sable sexton, who was made 
to understand that, inasmuch as I was a distin- 
guished gentleman from New York city, the per- 
formers in Divine service would be expected to do 
their best. At length, after a tolerably long pause 
of preparation, a venerable negro was called up by 
the clergyman to open the service with prayer. This 
he did with not a little solemnity, not forgetting, at 
the close of the exercise, to intercede expressly in 
behalf of the " geraman present from York." The 
prayer ended, a devout old negro, called Pete, inime- 



CHARLESTON. 105 

diately struck up the hynin beginning, " I'm bound 
for de kingdom." But old Pete had, apparently, for- 
gotten, in his zeal, the presence of the eminent gen- 
tleman from New York, and had to be snubbed by 
the sexton. 

" Stop dat, you nigger ! " quickly exclaimed the 
official, looking, at the same time, sharply at the 
singer's face, and then, after a jsause, pointing up- 
ward, he called out, authoritatively : 

" Choir, sing ' Vital spark.' " 

The singing was nc^t bad ; the tone of voice 
bemg pure, and the chief deficiency consisting in the 
lack of expression. All the other exercises, likewise, 
were done decently and in order. 

From the negro, whether under the sounding 
board of the conventicle, or the hammer of the auc- 
tioneer, to Powers, the sculptor, may seem a pretty 
long stride ; but the statue of Mr. Calhoim, by this 
great American bust maker, stands in the old State 
House, at but a short distance from either the meet- 
ing house, or the slave market. With a disposition 
to speak well of native art, I cannot, however, attrib- 
ute to this statue of the distinguished Carolinian any 
high degree of merit beyond that of possessing a 
good head. Unfortunately, the marble, too, has the 
fault of bemg the least bit smutty at the tip of the 
nose, and suggests the homely idea of snuft-taking. 



106 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

The body is encumbered by the drapery, which, 
though -wrought with very great pains, seems to be 
heavy with the water of the Avet garments after 
which it must have been modelled. The three folds 
on the left shoulder ai-e particularly stiiF and monoto- 
nous. The figure, represented as stepping forward, 
is impeded, in so doing, by two siipports, one on 
either side. The left ami is elevated awkwax'dly, to 
hold a scroll bearing an inscription, which, at a little 
distance, looks as though it Avere done in red chalk, 
and produces rather a burlesque effect than other- 
wise. But the weakest points in the statue are the 
hands and arms, which look still weaker when con- 
trasted with the remarkable strength and boldness 
of the head. It was a pity, indeed, to impair the 
effect of so excellent a bust by adding a body to it. 
T~ Before leaving Charleston, I did not fail to take a 

look at its envii'ons. On a bright, sunny afternoon, 
the soft southwest wind gently blowing, I Avas 
driven out by a friend to his farm, situated a few 
miles out of town. The rather quiet landscape was 
made attractive by numerous liveoaks, with sturdy, 
broadly spreading branches, by tall, dark-leafed 
magnolias, and by the graceful wild oranges, all 
being evergreens. Some of these trees were draped 
with grapevines climbing to their summits ; and the 
hedges were green with the Cherokee rose, and the 



CHARLESTON. 107 

yellow jessamine. In a stroll through the gardens of 
a farmliouse, I gathered a nosegay of fragrant vio- 
lets, snowdrops, jonquils, and Christmas berries, 
which, brought home, filled my apartment for hours 
with a sweet, summer perfume. 

But the most j^leasing feature of the scenery 
Avhich came within my observation, on this excur- 
sion, was an avenue, or, rather, a couple of avenues, 
of liveoaks of unusual size and beauty. The trees 
being fully grown, the crooked branches stretched 
themselves high in the air, numerous as the masts in 
the crowded seaport, and strong enough to supply 
the joints and knees of the proudest ships of war. 
They stretched high overhead, and apparently half- 
way to heaven, until gradually lost in the tapering 
twigs, and evergreen leaves, and gracefully pendent 
mosses. The stems had the strength of the columns 
of some great temple in Thebes or Palmyra. And 
yet, I was told that these monarchs of the plain had 
scarcely yet attained their threescore years and ten. 
When the old men of Charleston were in their cra- 
dles, these oaks were tiny acorns, such as I trod under 
foot as I walked thoughtfully in the vast, checkered 
shade of these green avenues. So vigorous and 
rapid is the growth of vegetable forms in this clime 
of the sun. 

On returning from the country, I drove through 



108 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the Mount Auburn of Charleston, called, from the 
beautiful trees interspersed through it, the Magnolia 
Cemetery. But, entertaining always a decided dis- 
position to keep out of places of this sort as long as 
may be, I was scarcely in the mood to do justice to 
this promenade among the graves. As it Avas, the 
situation seemed to me little better than a collection 
of low sandhills, the monotony of which was varied, 
after the manner of the Chinese, by a few pools of 
standing water. The principal monuments, as is 
generally the cas3 in cemeteries, had a look of more 
or less vain ostentation about them ; their propor- 
tions being rarely good, and the carving being 
almost always tawdry. The simplest forms, and 
lines of oi'nament, certainly, sympathize best with 
heartfelt grief; and we generally raise the monument 
to ourselves, rather than to the dead, whenever we 
overdo it. Some new tombs in the Egyptian style 
were pointed out to me as particularly " nice ; " one 
of them having a glass door which allowed all curi- 
ous persons to look in, and see the coffins. But, 
thinking the sight could not possibly prove entertain- 
ing, I drove out of the grounds at as fast a walk as 
the regulations of the place would admit of. 

Returning to town, we passed along the Battery, 
the principal promenade of the Charlestonians, and a 
truly beautiful one. Two rivers, the Cooper and the 



CHARLESTON. 109 

Ashley, flow past it into the bay, which here spreads 
out to view a pleasant expanse of Av^aters. Ahnost 
entirely landlocked, the Palmetto Islands bound it on 
the south ; to the eastward project into the water 
the two salient points of Forts Sumter and Moultrie ; 
while in the west, when I first saw it, lay diffused 
over all the beautiful tints of the sunset. And, night 
after night, as I returned to the Battery at that hour, 
the sky was ever agloAv with the same hues of purple 
and salmon color, of saffron, rose, and green. On 
the first evening, too, the full moon, rising above 
the eastern horizon, scattered innumerable sparkling 
points of light in a line across the dancing waves, 
laying a necklace of diamonds on the bosom of the 
bay. A little later in the year, all the fashion of 
Charleston will be met, at the hour of twilight, 
promenading on this smoothly laid sea wall. Nightly 
the cool breeze from the water fans them, and re- 
freshes their languid spirits, when May-day intro- 
duces the season of hot weather. And hence has 
grown up the proverb, that the Charlestonians live 
but during two months of the year — in February, for 
the sake of the races, and in May, for that of the 
promenade upon the Battery. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Savannah. 

WITH pleasant regrets I took my leave of 
Charleston, and, passing the long Palmetto 
Islands, saluted once more the open, broad Atlantic. 
As the sun came up higher, its rays, agreeably tem- 
pered by a slight haze in the air, made for us a sum- 
mer sea in February. And such the sea remained 
tlie livelong day ; a soft southwest breeze just raising 
a ripple over the azure expanse, and the bosom of 
the ocean only so much heaving as Avhen it is most 
at rest. It was but mere pastime for the white sea- 
gulls to follow us on lazily flapping wings ; often 
resting poised in the air, noAV dipping, for a moment, 
in the shij^'s Avhite wake of foam, and then alighting 
gracefully upon their watery nests, to be rocked 
asleep by the gently rolling waves, as from the 
branc'ies of trees the birds' nests hang swinging in 
the summer winds. The Avhole day long not a sail 



SAVANNAH. m 

was to be seen, making the ocean seem like an idler 
keeping holiday ; and, at nightfall, our steamer 
brought us to land in the haven where we would 
be — that of Savannah. 

Comparisons are proverbially odious ; and any 
one that might be instituted between two such rival 
cities as Savannah and Charleston, would not be 
agreeable to the inhabitants of either of them. 
These two towns are Avell Icnown to be antipodes in 
taste and opinion ; whatever is most applauded by 
the one, being held in great disrespect by the other. 
The Charlestonians think well of their city on ac- 
count of its fine old baronial mansions, and pride 
themselves upon the length of pedigree which can 
be shown by the families residing in them. But 
they of Savannah, who live in houses built in the 
newer style of architecture, and worship in church 
edifices the origin of which hardly dates so far back 
as the American Revolution, do not consider them- 
selves upstarts, for all that. They put the "Pulaski" 
against the "Mills House;" Bull street against the 
Charleston Battei-y ; Bonaventure and Thunderbolt 
road against the Magnolia Cemetery and the plank 
turnpike ; their park of pines against the one pal- 
metto ; and the muddy waters of the Savaimah, and 
the town pumps, against the bay of Charleston, its 
forts and islands. It is a veiy great pity that there 



112 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

should be this variance of taste between neighbors ; 
but still I should hardly undertake to decide the 
large number of questions in dispute between the 
two parties, unless I were officially requested to do 
so by the town authorities, and Mere tendered my 
fees. I may, however, be allowed to say, that it 
happened to me, on more than one occasion, to hear 
residents of Savannah boasting of being the fifth or 
sixth in descent from some of the old, pre-revolution- 
ary aristocrats of the more northerly metropolis. It 
is acknowledged, moreover, by the Savannese, that 
Georgia is a border land — a State of transition be- 
tween the new Southwest, with its population of 
thrifty bixt recently-born cotton and sugar lords, and 
Carolina, settled so many generations earlier by the 
cavaliers of England. I speak, of course, of the 
southern Carolina ; for, the difference in character 
between this and the other twin sister, has been 
strongly marked from its first settlement down to the 
present times. Whenever the Charlestonian talks of 
Carolina, it is of his Carolina ; and in case of your 
alluding to the other, he shrugs his shoulders, and 
reminds you that that State was originally a colony 
of hard-fisted, bull-headed Scotchmen. 

But, air invidious comparisons aside, Savannah is 
a pretty town, half city, half village, and Avell de- 
serves its graceful name. Beautiful shade trees have 



SAVANNAH. 113 

been planted in the streets, most of which are wide 
and straight, having originally been laid out, as it 
would appear, by line and comijass. There are not 
crooked ones enough to give even a little variety to 
the monotonous right angles. Still, it is pleasant, in 
this early season of the year, when the leaves are 
new, and the heat of the approaching sun begins to 
assert its great power, to take one's promenade in 
checkered shade. For this exercise, the street of 
streets is Bull street. Here reside many of the 
opulent families, and here walks all the fashion. 
Through this thoroughfare, also, roll the pleasant 
carriages, if a carriage can be said to roll in sand ; 
and the young bloods canter the horses, which, a few 
degrees farther north, would be trained to trot. 

At intervals, along this Corso, there are pretty 
green squares, likewise decorated with shade trees ; 
and in the centre of each one, instead of a fountain, 
stands a tall wooden pump. Sufficiently conspicuous 
in itself, this useful ornament was made more so 
from the circumstance that, whenever I happened to 
be passing, there rarely failed to stand a negro or 
two, working away at the handles so lazily that the 
question might be raised, whether it were he that 
was working the pump, or the pump that was work- 
uig hira. 

But continue your promenade to the end of Bull 



114 . TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

street, and there you shall sec the city park. It is an 
enclosure of a few acres, shaded by tall, resinous 
Ijines, which cast upon the green turf beneath them 
a pleasing shade. The place is laid out with much 
simpUcity in paths, half sand, half shell ; but you 
have permission, likewise to walk, or sit upon the 
grass and the Avooden benches, and to admire the 
neat stone fountain, which, situated in the centre of 
the grove, sends a few playful though feeble streams 
out of the horns of sundry Tritons and sea gods. It 
is a pretty work of art enough, except that the water 
nymph, standing on the summit, has her left hip 
badly out of joint ; as one may more distinctly sec 
on going behind her. It is rather a pity, too, that 
the artist's fancy, after bringing to birth the marine 
divinities which grace the lower part of the foun- 
tain, shoidd have so completely exhausted itself on 
reaching the principal basin, where, in utter lack of 
any mermaids, or lions' heads, or other artistic con- 
ceit, the water is left to run out of plain, straight 
pipes, no more ornamental than the town pumps. 
However, it is a nice little fountain ; and, what with 
the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who nightly 
come out to look at it, and the numerous children 
joyously romping under the trees, and the small 
babies that arc carted out there to get their airing, 
brings pleasantly to the mmd of the traveller the 



SAVANNAH. 115 

many beautiful fountains and gardens of the old 
countries. 

On your way both to and from the park, you 
meet a considerable number of Northern invalids. 
For this city, situated in a plain of pure silex, has 
the advantage of a dryer climate than that to be 
found in any other of the great towns of the South. 
It cannot, however, be called a di-y air, except by 
comparison ; nor is it 2)articularly pure or invigorat- 
ing. Vexed by few high winds, indeed, the winters 
are mild, and much more favorable, no doubt, to cer- 
tahi kinds of valetudinarianism than the rigorous 
ones of New England. Certain it is, that the habit 
of invalids to come from the North to Savannah is a 
long-established one. Li such nmnbers do they con- 
gregate here, that, at breakfast at the liotel tables, 
one hears on all sides the questions asked, " flow did 
you sleej^ last night ? " " How is your cough this 
morning?" And in walking the streets, likewise, 
the talk overheard is always a good deal about rheu- 
matism and the liniments. 

I could more confidently recommend Savannah as 
a winter residence for consumptive patients, if the 
hotels there were only a little better. The recent 
theory of physiciaiis is, that persons afflicted with 
pulmonary disease should be kept on a generous, 
nutritious diet. But this jjlcasant remedy is not so 



116 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

easily to be obtained at the public tables in Savan- 
nah. Nor are there any good restaurants ; though 
something might undoubtedly be done toward im- 
proving his fare, by the patient's getting up early in 
the morning, and doing a certain portion of market- 
ing himself. In that way he might obtain some deli- 
cacies which waiter and cook would be only too 
happy, for a valuable consideration, to set before 
him. He may also find himself sometimes quartered 
in the neighborhood of noisy courtyards ; for I re- 
member that, in one upon which opened the windows 
of my apartment, there stood a machine for cracking 
ice, which, being kept in pretty constant action both 
by day and evening, made quite noise enough to 
wind up the nerves of any one who had them much 
unstrung. And in case this might not suffice, the 
addition of the music made by two small darkeys 
who were learning the art of drumming, the one by 
practising upon an empty cigar box, and the other 
upon a cracked tin kettle, surely would. 

Dui-ing the day passed in that apartment, I, 
Yankee-like, spent some time in making an estimate 
of the expense to which I should be put, in undei"- 
taking to have the amount of noise which Avas pro- 
duced by the drums and the ice machine, manufac- 
tured for my entertainment in any other manner, by 
one or more black boys hired expressly for the pur- 



SAVANNAH. 117 

pose. But it was so great that I forbear mentioning 
it. Should, however, the prescription of whiskey, 
with a slight addition of water and sugar, be recom- 
mended, as it was a few years ago by many Southern 
practitioners, as a remedy for consumption, the Sa- 
vannese guest will not have it in his power to com- 
plain that his wants in this respect have not been 
provided for. Indeed, let the patient travel on any 
of the great roads in this part of the country that he 
may, the supply of this remedy will not fail him ; 
for scarcely a railroad train stops anywhere, that one 
does not see rudely painted in large letters, over the 
door of some shanty more or less well-looking, the 
word " Bar-room." 

But, against plenty of liquor, the invalid who 
visits Savannah must set sandy roads and exorbitant 
carriage fees. I know not by what rule it happens, 
that horse hire in this city should be so xmusually 
expensive, unless it be to maintain a certain propor- 
tion between the rate of charges and the depth of 
the silex one is driven through. Yet let me hasten 
to add, that any such little drawbacks to the perfect 
satisfaction and happiness of the invalid which I 
have here taken the liberty to allude to, will be more 
than compensated, no doubt, by the hospitality and 
kindness of the people among Avhom he comes to 
take up a temporary residence. In their cheerful and 



118 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

well-appointed houses, such petty deficiencies and 
discomfoi'ts Avill be quite forgotten. Besides intelli- 
gent and refined society, he will find, in some of 
them, collections of rare and valuahle books, as well 
as of ancient and costly manuscripts, and of interest- 
ing autographs, the equals of which can be seen in 
few American cities, and which will furnish no little 
consolation to the stranger in weather not suitable 
for promenading in Bull street. 

Whoever visits Savannah, drives, of course, out 
to Bonaventure. Everybody ex^Dects him to take 
this drive, and he expects to do it himself. He goes 
by the Thunderbolt road as far as the Thunderbolt 
road will take him ; and then he turns ofl' into a 
highway, Avhere the sight of his horses' hoofs and 
the felloes of his carriage wheels is immediately lost 
in from two to four inches of sand. Still another 
inch of the same being suspended in the air in the 
form of dust, it certainly would not be libelling this 
road — for the privilege of passing over which a 
handsome little toll is collected from the traveller — 
to describe it as a sandy one. However, it leads 
through the pleasant pine woods, and has, at the end 
of it, in Bonaventure, what might be made, with little 
pains and expense, the most imposing place of sepul- 
ture to be found in the country. The spot is well 
known from the descriptions of ti'avellers, the charao 



SAVANNAH. 119 

tei'istic feature of it consisting in several avenues of 
evergreen oaks. Planted a hundred or more years 
ago, they have now attained very great height, while 
from their branches hangs pendent a funereal pall of 
gray moss. The groves of the Druids were not dark 
with so solemn a gloom. The profoimdest silence 
reigns in these magnificent and sombre aisles, where 
repose the ashes of the dead ; broken only by the 
moaning of the treetops when the winds sweep over 
them, wrestling with the huge gnarled branches, and 
making the gray moss wave like mourners' tresses, 
strewn with ashes ; or more cheerfully broken, in 
mild, sunny days, such as that wherein I first visited 
it, by the sweet voices of the M^ood birds, which 
build their nests and rear their young in these green, 
sylvan retreats. It was, indeed, a sweet, soothing 
requiem which these little songsters were singing on 
that May morning ; one expressive of the tender 
sympathy of nature for man, when, at last, he lies 
down to sleep on her bosom, and suggestive of a 
happy existence after he shall have awaked re- 
freshed by his slumbers. 

In returning from the cemetery, we soon came 
upon a little garden of flowers, the blowing roses, 
fragrant pinks, and glowing verbenas of which made 
a pleasing contrast with the gloom of the grand old 
woods. From one place to the other was like a step 



120 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

from death to life, and produced a most exhilarating 
effect upon the spirits. The gardener gave us flow- 
ers, which, taken in the hand, put the whole party at 
once into holiday attire, and made us no longer 
thoughtful mourners, but revellers in the midst of 
the full life and beauty of nature. So buoyed up 
were all our hearts, that, in returning home, we in- 
sisted on making a diversion through Lovers' Lane, 
in spite of the dust and heat of the way ; nor did 
even the celebrated but ill-jointed plank road, so 
called, over which we finally drove into town, suffice 
to finish us. 

But the black boy who showed us through the 
floAver garden I must not forget to mention, simply 
for the sake of his name. It was January ! Can a 
more shocking misnomer be found anywhere on 
record ? If left to make his own selection of a pre- 
nomen, the month which stands in the calendar for 
midwmter would, I am sure, have been the last he 
would have pitched upon, and must undoubtedly 
cause a cold chill to creep down his back every time 
he hears his name called. Name a negro after a hot 
month ; calling him after the last one in summer, for 
example, Augustus — Augustus Caesar — and his appel- 
lation will be a subject of joy and pride to him as 
long as he lives. But it is too cruel to call him 
January. I was tempted to ask the poor felloAV if 



SAVANNAH. 121 

his wife's name were July ; but, having compassion 
on him, I varied the question, and inquired if he did 
not like the hot weather. He said he did ; and, of 
his own accord, added : " Dere he nothing so good 
for de nigger as to build a big fire in de rice field, 
and toast his shins in dog day." 

The negroes, by the way, often have very odd 
names. The boy at the hotel who waited on me at 
table, answered to the name of Plenty : a name 
surely good enough so long as there was plenty of 
roast beef and pUim pudding to be had for the ask- 
ing ; but one involving a pungent sarcasm whenever, 
as was sometimes the case, he brought back the 
guest's empty plate, with the reply, " Roast beef all 
gone, massa ! " 

However, Plenty and the other boys all waited at 
table to the best of their faculties, and never failed 
to satisfy me, except when they had partially lost 
their heads from mixing their toddy with a stick a 
trifle stiffer than it should have been. One day, I 
remexnbei*, when old Pete was unusually tipsy, he 
began with asking whether I would have soup, lob- 
ster, or pie ; and afterward, when I was quietly 
enjoying my coffee, he disturbed my composure by 
the inquiry, if massa would not be pleased to be 
iielped to some " wcry nice wcgetables ! " 

But my chamber-boy had a name which pleased 



122 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

me, perliaj^s, as much as any otlicir, and was certainly 
a soxirce of the very greatest satisfaction to himself. 
He Avas a conscientious and most reliable black boy ; 
but, one evening, before that fact Avas known to me, 
wishing to be awaked at an early hour on the morn- 
ing following, I called the boy, and, looking doubt- 
ingly in his face, put to him the question : 

" Now, can you be relied upon to wake me to- 
morrow morning at six o'clock ? " 

Whereupon, gathering all there Avas of himself 
up — for he Avas very short-legged — and looking at 
me with a foce of mingled astonishment and indigna- 
tion, he replied : 

" Sir, my name is Chisholm (Chism) ! " 



CHAPTER X. 

A Georgia Railioay. 

'^ AWFUL liot, madam," said a gent in the 'bus, 
-iTJL who happened to be sitting next to the 
lady by my side, as we drove through the streets 
of Savannah to the station of the railway to Mont- 
gomery. We were eai'ly at the station, it being the 
custom of landlords hereabouts to speed the parting- 
guest, and get him out of the house about an hour in 
advance of the time. There was, however, no lack 
of laggards, one of Avhoni came to the conductor, 
just as the train was about to start, with the request 
that he would wait a few minutes, as he had some 
cigars coming. The conductor waited for the cigai's. 
But, when these had arrived, a lady came running 
into the station house, and implored the official to 
wait a few minutes for her trunk. 

" Oh, my ! " she exclaimed, " I must go by the 



124 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

train — it is a case of necessity — and the trunk will 
be here in a few moments ! Oh, my ! oh, my ! " 

It was absolutely certain, she said, that the trunk 
would be brought in a very few minutes ; for a man 
had just gone over to the other side of the river to 
fetch it in a cart. Well, the gallant conductor waited 
for the trunk also. But when that had finally ap- 
peared, the lady's son, a lad of some five years of 
age, took it into his little head that he himself was 
not ready to go. Neither the entreaties of papa nor 
of mamma could induce him to do anything with his 
tiny feet but stamp with them vehemently upon the 
platform, while, with a loud voice, he cried out : 

" I'm not ready — not ready ! I tell you I won't 
go — won't go ! " 

But his papa insisting on his instantaneous depar- 
ture, and taking him iip in his arras to put him into 
the car, the precocious youth, bethinking himself of 
one more reason for delay, bellowed forth : 

" But mamma's trunk — wait for the trunk ! " 

The conductor, however, though a little slow at 
the setting out, apj^eared to be fast enough after he 
had once got under way. Besides a diamond ring, 
and bright gilt buttons in his waistcoat, he wore for 
breastj)in a miniature copy of a railway engine, and 
proved to be a very civil person — fops sometimes 
making good conductors. But he gave me a greasy 



A GEORGIA RAILWAY. 125 

clieck, bearing on its unwashed face the printed com- 
mand, " Keep this in sight," Now I was not myself 
of the opinion that such a soiled piece of pasteboard 
would be ornamental to my hat ribbon ; nor could I 
think of parading it, like an order of merit, on my 
coat collar. It seemed to me, that if tickets and 
checks of clean paper were sufficiently in harmony 
with our democratic institutions, they would be much 
preferable. 

Fortunately, the small number of passengers in 
the train gave to the gentlemen the opportunity — so 
gladly improved in this part of the country — of sit- 
ting on their backs ; for travellers here seem natu- 
rally to fall into sprawling attitudes. Before me sat, 
or rather lay, quite regardless of the presence of 
ladies, a gent in black broadcloth, with both feet 
projecting out of the window, his arras thrown back 
over his head, and his five-dollar beaver resting on 
his stomach. At my side lay another, with legs 
crossed, one foot resting on the seat before him, and 
the other raised halfway to the carriage roof. A tall 
Kentuckian managed actually to extend himself over 
three seats ; his head resting on one, his back partly 
on the next, and partly on his portmanteau, which 
had been so arranged as to bridge the interval ; 
while his legs, extending through the open back of 
the second seat, were long enough to bring his feet 



120 TO DIXIE AND THE TROFICS. 

comfortably upon the third. And — poor fellow ! — 
when he found that he could not sleep in this position 
as quietly as he desired, he went outside, and sat 
upon the platform — observing the letter only of the 
order which forbade passengers from standing there. 
How much I wished Mr. Punch had been present to 
take a sketch of the various postures into which these 
planters threw themselves ! It would have sold ten 
thousand copies extra. 

The country from Savannah to Montgomery 
through which the railroad passes, is, for the most 
part, covered with woods. It is, in fact, a wilderness 
of woods, with here and there a plantation opening. 
Most of the fields being still full of stumps, and trees 
killed by girdling, it wears the face of a new coun- 
try, but recently reached by the pioneers of civiliza- 
tion. In the plantations along the road there Avere 
few buildings to be seen, excepting negro huts made 
of logs, and small cottages of one story occupied by 
the masters ; though, in two or three of the towns — 
rather pretty and thrifty ones — I noticed a goodly 
number of well-built family mansions, and some -large 
warehouses. 

At midday, to vary the monotony of the journey, 
the train suddenly came to a full stop in the woods. 
This was rather ominous, and at once excited ray sus- 
picions that something had gone wrong. Nor Avas I 



A GEORGIA RAILWAY. 127 

kept long in suspense ; for very soon the words flew 
from ear to car, " Freight train oif the track ! " 
And, sure enough, there we were, face to face with 
an engine and tender which had been thrown from 
the rails, and now stopped the way. And how long 
should we be detained ? Some said a couple of 
hours ; others said six. Only one thing, however, 
appeared to be known with certainty — namely, that 
the engine, with its tender, was to be lifted upon the 
rails again by the help of a couple of screws, as 
many big trees cut down and converted into levers, 
and the stout ai*ms of a dozen or two of men, the 
greater number of whom were negroes. It was a 
poor amusement, to be sure, but the best to be had, 
to observe how slowly and awkwardly the process of 
repairing the damage was carried on. There was one 
caj)tain, so called, ha\dng the direction of the busi- 
ness ; but he had so many lieutenants, every one en- 
tertaining an opinion of his OAvn, that in the multi- 
tude of counsels there seemed to be not a little folly. 
Even some of the passengers had a word to say as to 
the best manner of raising this wheel, or of extract- 
ing that bolt. Only the negroes appeared not to 
know what Avas to be done. They looked on Avith 
faces of blank amazement and unconcern ; though 
they did all the hard work at the levers, and did it 
willingly. 



128 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Fortunately, I had that morning laid in an extra- 
ordinary supjDly of profusions for the journey, as well 
as of books and papers ; recent experience having 
taught me that it was almost as desirable to have a 
private larder when travelling in our Southern States, 
as it is in journeying through the Castiles of Old 
Spain. 

And, indeed, what a comfort it is, when wrecked 
in the midst of a forest, with no habitations in sight 
but two or three negro cabins, and nothing eatable 
in these to be had sa\^e fried salt pork and cakes of 
Indian meal, to have a cold chicken in your basket ! 
A smoked herring, too, is not bad ; nor is a bit of 
cheese ; nor are a few sweet Havana oranges. And 
in such a basket of comforts did I find, that day, 
both dinner and supper. The weather was luxuri- 
ously warm, the sun shining through the thick foliage 
down among the stems of the trees, and a smnmer 
breeze in March making all the green leaves tremble 
and dance for joy. How pleasant,, likewise, it was to 
find a spring of clear, cold, bubbling water flowing 
fast by the scene of this breakdown ! Here Ave 
quenched the thirst of the noontide with cheerful 
draughts ; and here, as the day wore off, spreading 
our white napkins, we made a travellers' picnic in the 
woods. Nor, the while we broke our simple bread, 
did the tongues of the mocldng birds tire in the 



A GEORGIA RAILWAY. 129 

branches overhead ; they seeming to be as happy as 
the day was long — for so long their singing lasted. 
Was it not, then, a jjiece of good luck to be kept 
for six hours in these green woods, with the birds 
making merry over our heads, and the running 
waters making merry at our feet ? The magnolia, 
which spread its branches above the spring, w^ould 
hardly be able many days longer to restrain its buds 
from bursting. Here and there, amid the masses of 
emerald leaves, the eye w\is pleased with seeing the 
white flowering thorn, itself almost a tree ; and, not 
for off, the scarcely less high Pahnia, brightening the 
gloom with its gorgeous pink blossoms. In roaming 
up and down the woods, we saw also various kinds 
of ^parasitical and climbing plants in full bloom, 
crimson, blue, and purple. On the surface of pools 
floated the water lilies, white and yellow. In fact, a 
multitude of rare plants of the Southern clime were 
growing on all sides, and nature was everywhere 
opening her leaves and buds with the joyful exuber- 
ance of the semi-tropical spring. 

And, at last, this day of detention had a most 
lovely setting. The sim's rays, as he sank below 
the horizon, burst through the clouds which ob- 
structed the path of his going down, converting 
them now into amber, now into molten gold, and 
lastly mto purple. The light had not quite faded 
6* 



130 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

out of this tapestry of clouds, nor out of the lines 
of apple green seen through their openings in the 
sky beyond, when the whistle of an approaching 
train broke upon the silence of the twilight air, and 
announced to us the means of deliverance, and of 
speedy transportation to the end of our journey. 



CHAPTER XL 

Down the Alabama. 

ALABAMA — a word beautiful both in sound 
-XjL and signification. For, Avlien one of the 
Cherokee tribes, overjjowered in war by its neigh- 
bors, fled for refuge into the great Soiithwestern wil- 
derness, and, after many long wanderings, came, at 
length, to the waters of this beautiful stream, with 
high bluffs and luxuriantly wooded banks, the chief- 
tain of the exhausted tribe of exiles, striking his 
spear, in the pi'esence of his warriors, into one of the 
headlands of the river, exclaimed, " Alabama ! " — 
Here ice rest ! 

I cannot say, however, that I rested particularly 
w^ell the first night on this river ; for the pulsations 
sent thr<iugli every plank and timber of the boat as 
the piston opened and shut the valves of the great, 
strong heart laboring in the centre of the structure, 
gave to my narrow couch a motion a little too much 



132 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

like cradle-rocking. Going down the stream, these 
river craft are, indeed, a little more steady and com- 
fortable ; but they ascend the river in an agony of 
convulsions. But the healthy, clear countenance of 
the captain was a pretty good guarantee against our 
being blown up ; as Avere also his pantaloons, they 
being made in plaits, after the fashion of the Dutch. 
It was plain that he was not a fast man. Indeed, 
before starting, he vvaited a quarter of an hour for a 
gentleman Avho had forgotten something to go back 
to town for it ; and would probably have stopped 
anywhere along the river for a good fellow to get a 
" drink," had the supply of liquor, by any chance, 
given out on board. 

The company of passengers was not an interest- 
ing one. 

" Don't you think, sir, it is dangerous travelling 
on so much water ? " inquired an Alabama lady, 
looking over the side of the steamer, and commen- 
cing conversation with me, a pei'fect stranger. But 
I comforted her with the assurance that the vessel 
was both lire and steam proof. 

" Came from Montgomery, sir ? Going down the 
river, sir ? " she continued, piling question upon ques- 
tion in a single breath. 

" Going to Mobile, madam," said I. 

" To visit your relations, I reckon ? " 



DOWN- THE ALABAMA. 133 

" Yes ; to spend a month with my aunt." 

" Well," concluded my fair unknown, " then I 
sliall see you again." 

" Most happy," said I. 

At dinner, as ill luck would have it, I Avas placed 
next to a still less agreeable lady, and one who, 
strange to say, was a first-class passenger — had her 
state room, and wore her cameo. At table she went 
straight thi-ough everything. In such quick succes- 
sion Avere the dishes which the waiters set before her 
devoured, she seemed a travelling gnome or ogress. 
Not only did she eat with her knife, but, from time 
to time, she looked me in the face with eyes so sharp 
and fierce, as to awaken, at last, the fearful suspicion 
that she was going to begin on me after having fin- 
ished her chicken. Did mortal man or woman. ever 
before empty such loaded plates of pastry, and live ? 
Upon my word, when I saw her, an hour after din- 
ner, on the guards of the boat, smoking a long clay 
pipe, and spitting right and left over the floor, I was 
scarcely so much surprised at the vulgarity of her 
manners, as at seeing the woman alive and well after 
so much gorging. 

It is doing no more than justice to the company, 
however, to add, that the boat had its cotton dow- 
ager on board. What Southern steamer, in fact, 
would have its requisite complement of passengers, 



134 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

without some one or more of this quality among 
them ? The great Lady wore, as traveUing dress, a 
rich brown brocade ; while her eldest daughter, who 
accompanied her, was arrayed in a tissue of roses, 
palm leaves, and birds of paradise. The party, it 
may Avell be believed, was the great sight of the 
boat ; as was the putting them out at their own land- 
ing the principal event of the voyage. Indeed, it was 
a very grand affiiir, this putting of them out; nothing 
better of the kind having happened, so far as I know, 
since the day when Noah went out of the ark Avith 
all his retinue. For they were put out, the planter 
and his wife, his sons and his daughters, his man- 
servants and his maidservants, with their hogsheads, 
barrels, kegs, bags, boxes, bundles, kettles, teapots, 
saucepans, trunks, bandboxes, umbrellas, and bird 
cages. 

A valiant trencher woman, it may be added, 
almost as valiant as my ogress herself, was this 
grand doAvager ; and repeatedly did she strike her 
fork into the platter of fried oysters set at the head 
of the table before the captain. But, fortunately, 
the dish so energetically attacked by the lady in bro- 
cade Avas too enoi'mous in size to suifer much from 
her depredations. It held a good half bushel. Still, 
the extraordinary rapidity Avith Avhich all these 
bivalves Avcrc distributed, would have surprised any 



DOWM TUB ALABAMA. 135 

one not accustomed to the fast manners of steamboat 
tables. For the waiters came for them in a perfect 
furore., with arms outstretched, and in ahuost as co- 
pious a pers^jiration as if they were running for a 
wager over a Magnolia race course. This set of 
boys had evidently been trained to rapid moYcmcnt 
as thoroughly as any Zouaves or Turcos. 

" Coffee, or tea, massa ? " inquired of me one of 
them, in a tone of voice so quick and decided it 
seemed as if my everlasting destiny depended on the 
answer. • 

" Sugar, massa ? " he said again, setting the bowl 
down with an emphasis which made every separate 
lump in it rattle. 

And the fury of the Avaiters seemed to set on 
fire the guests ; for, as fast as the former hurried up 
the cakes, so fast the latter hurried them down. The 
one, as they ran to and fro, tumbled over each other ; 
and the other tumbled no less facetiously into the 
hot biscuits, the muffins, and the scratch-backs. The 
meal presented the appearance of an agony — yet 
short in duration, all over in fifteen minutes. 

On the whole, it is my opinion that the only 
thing on this river worth coming a thousand miles to 
see, is its Avild woods. The traveller through these 
solitary regions is, indeed, alone Avith nature ; for if 
the cotton planter cultivates here and there a few 



136 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

broad fields, living himself in a small white mansion 
house, surroimded by slave cabins, whitewashed or 
brown Avith their natural logs ; or if the poor white 
clears up a rod or two of the river bank, space 
enough to contain a couple of shanties wherein to 
lodge wife and children, a cow, a pig, and a donkey ; 
or if, on some bluif a few feet out of water, there are 
to be seen a half dozen smokes rising above the tops 
of the trees, and indicating the existence of what is 
here called, by courtesy, a town, or city, still these 
few scattei^d tokens of the presence of man do 
scarcely more than render the solitude of nature still 
more impressive. Man is here a new comer, and 
looks almost like an intruder. Civilization has 
Avrought on these rude banks none of her great tri- 
umphs ; Time has left none of his consecrated, crixm- 
bling memorials ; Art has raised no towers, no col- 
umns, no spires. The cotton bale is the most sig- 
nificant work of man's genius ; and, excepting the 
dilapidated log cabins on the banks, the only ruins 
washed by the turbid waters of this great river, are 
the broken trees and driftwood which float down on 
its surface. But the Avild, semi-primitive forest, seen 
on aiDproaching Mobile, is, indeed, a delight to the 
eyes. What a perfect Avilderness of verdure of 
every different shade, Avith the white and purple of 
the stems of trees intermingled, it is ! How light 



J)0W:N' the ALABAMA. 137 

and delicate the green in the oaks and cottonwoods, 
and how dark in tbe magnoHas and cypresses ! Even 
in this spring season, too, when every leaf is tender, 
there are soft hues in the foliage approaching nigh 
to browns and yellows ; while out of the crowded 
thickets many a shrub hangs its early flowers of 
white, or pink, or blue. 

Moreover, while surveying this pleasing scenery, 
the traveller enjoys the very great advantage of 
being on board a boat provided, not, indeed, with a 
band of music, but with a steam piano. This the 
engineer plays uj^on whenever he happens to be in 
the mood musical. Generally, on going from town, 
he gives a merry waltz ; and on returning, if in ad- 
vance of his rivals, he entertains the expectant crowd 
on the wharf with a far-sounding march of triumph. 
Occasionally, too, he will turn off" a jig, or negro 
melody, at the stopping places along the river, just 
to wake up Sambo, and tickle the heels of the small 
negroes. And this music is entirely gratuitous, no 
charge being made for it in your bills, nor any hat 
handed around after it. 



CHAPTER XIL 

Mobile. 

'' TT is pleasant to see the world one lives in," 
JL said I to my wife, one sunny morning, after 
having breakfasted at the Battle House, in Mobile. 
The meal, indeed, had been an uncommonly good one 
— good toast, good chops, potatoes shaved thin, done 
crisp. Even the tea was not bad, talcing into account 
that it was Southern tea ; and the waiter was civil, 
remarkably civil, for an Irish waiter in a " crack " 
hotel. 

But, by the way, can anybody tell why, in a coun- 
try so full of good-looking black boys, born expressly 
to serve tables, and needing nothing but the uniform 
of a white jacket to make the ugliest of them look 
respectable, why the guests in so many public houses 
in this part of tlie Union should be waited ujion by 
unwashed and insolent Irishmen or Germans ? The 
colored waiter's toilet is always made — made by na- 



MOBILE. 139 

ture. As his face does not show dirt, it is to be pre- 
sumed that it is always washed. His hair needs no 
pomatum ; and, dressed at birth, no barber could 
possibly improve its natural frizzle. The Irish head, 
on the contrary, is very apt to look like a haystack ; 
or, if greased, is sure to show the candle. By nature, 
Patrick's face is unwashed, and no amount of scrub- 
bing will do more than merely polish its inherent 
tinge of uncleanliness. His elbows, too, are always 
coming through his "coat ; he is ever outgrowing his 
pantaloons ; and do what you will, put him in plush 
and gold lace even, he will still look the ditch digger. 
However, the lad James, Avho brought up my 
breakfast that morning, was certainly an exceptional 
Irishman. He was tolerably clean, and sufficiently 
instructed — a very proper, Avell-beliaved lad, Avho, 
during my residence in the inn, did not a little to 
preserve unruffled the placidity of my disposition, 
promoting my moral as well as physical well-being. 
And think how annoying to a guest a waiter has it in 
his power to be, when he is bent on sulking ; when 
he is determined to do nothing as it ought to be 
done ; when he v/ill do but one thing at a time, and 
is forever in doing that ; when he says there is no 
more of this, and no more of that to be had ; or — 
which is about as bad — when he sets before you too 
much of everything. 



140 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

But James, this morning, by a bappy inspiration 
■ — and your Irishman often says and sometimes does 
a good tbing by inspiration — James served breakfast 
in bis very best style. He seemed pleased bimself 
witb tbe way in which be did it ; as much so as be 
would have been at making a good bull, or deliver- 
ing himself of something uncommonly dry and full 
of brogue. It evidently gave him a silent, stomachic 
satisfaction to see me enjoy my dishes ; be knowing 
as well as I did that there was no indigestion, no dis- 
temper in them. And so it happened that my morn- 
ing meal was attended with only pleasurable sensa- 
tions, and that I arose from it prepared to do any 
good deed that needed to be done — prepared to enter 
upon any course of rational enjoyment for the day 
which might present itself. Accordingly, turning to 
my companion, I said, " It is pleasant, my deai', to 
see the Avorld one lives in. Let us go to Spring 
Hill." 

It was a balmy mornmg ; and, seating myself in 
the carriage, I spoke placidly to the driver, saying : 

" Now, my man, take your own time. Slow or 
fast, 'tis all the same to me." 

Accordingly, he put his horse on that modei"ate 
pace which best suits the comfort of an idle man 
having no other aini than simply to get out of town 
into the 02)cu country. And a quiet, pleasant drive 



MOBILE. 141 

this is to Spring Hill. On either side of the way are 
villas, every one sun-ouuded with its pretty yard of 
flowers. The grounds are divided, for the most part, 
by hedges, made by throwing the turf from a ditch 
upon one of its sides, and planting the embankment 
Avith the Cherokee rose, which, being of rapid 
growth, soon forms a hedge as dense as it is beauti- 
ful. This rose runs along by the roadsides, likewise, 
converting walls and fences into thick banks of 
leaves and flowers. It climbs to the tops of high 
trees, hanging its festoons among the branches, or 
letting them droop gracefully to the ground. In 
fact, this showy wild flower, with its five white 
petals and centre of gold, embedded as it is in so 
many brightly shining leaves of green, gives almost 
a bridal aspect to the spring landscape, and wellnigh 
makes all these citizens' boxes look like homes of the 
poets. 

And the legend of the Cherokee rose is as pretty 
as the flower itself. An Indian chief of the Semi- 
nole tribe — I had the story from a lady in Mobile, as 
brilliant in mind as beautiful in person — taken jjris- 
oner of war by his enemies the Cherokees, and 
doomed to torture, fell so seriously ill that it became 
necessary to wait for his restoration to health before 
committing him to the fii'c. And, as he lay pros- 
trated by disease in the cabin of the Cherokee war- 



142 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

rior, the daughter of the latter, a young-, dark-faced 
maid, was his nurse. She fell in love with the yoiuig 
chieftain, and, wishing to save his life, urged him to 
escape ; but he would not do so unless she would flee 
with him. She consented. Yet, before they had 
gone far, impelled by soft regret at leaving her home, 
she asked leave of her lover to return, for the pur- 
pose of bearing away some memento of it. So, re- 
tracing her footsteps, she broke a sprig of the white 
rose which was climbing up the poles of her father's 
tent, and, preserving it durmg her flight through the 
wilderness, planted it by the door of her new home 
among the Seminoles. And from that day this beau- 
tiful flower has always been known, between the 
capes of Florida and throughout the Southern States, 
by the name of the Cherokee rose. 

The most striking feature of the landscape seen 
on this road to Spring Hill, is its lofty and wide- 
spreading liveoaks. They make a pleasant contrast 
Vvdth the pines, which stand thickly clustered to- 
gether, and have tall, straight, tapering stems, and 
crowns tufted Avith needles. In passing through the 
groves composed of these latter trees, so full of sap 
in this warm climate, one scents at a considerable 
distance the pleasantly aromatic perfume. The pine 
loves the sand ; and there is no lack of it here. In- 
deed, since leaving Wilmington, I have visited no 



MOBILE. 143 

town so softly pillowed upon the sands as is Mobile. 
The Cape Codder who, in passing along this road, 
sees his carriage wheels sinking into the yielding 
material, may very likely feel a pang of regret, be- 
lieving himself, for the moment, transj^orted out of 
this Soiithern paradise back to his native sea beaches. 
The whole of the road, however, is not so heavy, the 
greater portion of it having been made hard with 
shells. 

But sand makes piire air ; and on arriving in 
Mobile, more particularly if he come from the mud 
of New Orleans, the traveller exclaims, "How 
sweet-scented is this city ! " Accordingly, in pass- 
ing along this road to Spring Hill, as I came in sight 
of some pretty little villa, peeping out of its shrub- 
bery, with rows of orange and lime trees, of mock 
orange and pitosporum, of crape myrtles and jessa- 
mines from Mexico, the thought came forcibly to my 
mind. What a pity it is that the Northern invalids, 
so many of Avhom I have met in the course of my 
journey, hurrying from one uncomfortable, ill-pro- 
vided hotel to another, exposed to frequent and sharp 
transitions of weather, and suffering from the incon- 
veniences of crowded cars and dirty steamboats, 
what a i^ity that, instead of pursuing health over 
every broken road between Maine and Florida, they 
could not so far overcome the natural restlessness of 



144 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the American character, and their own fidgety love 
of change and travel, as to sit down contentedly for 
a half or a quarter of the year, in one of these sub- 
urban cottages ! 

Make your home, poor, feverish man, in some of 
these bowers of flowers. Here you can be con- 
stantly in the open air. The noon is not too hot for 
a walk in the shade ; nor are morning and evening 
too cool for a ride on horseback. The sands are dry 
under your feet. The exhilarating air from the gulf 
blows softly in at open Avindows, bringing Avith it 
the pleasant odors of the roses which climb up the 
lattice, or of the honeysuckles that hang from the 
piazza eaves. When the sun is hot, the cyj^ress casts 
for you its dark shadows, and the liveoak spreads an 
ample shade. Here come with your box of books. 
There is a piano in the parlor for the young ladies ; 
and the guitar case makes but one piece more of the 
luggage. Or is it the fair girl herself who is strick- 
en ? Then let her come here and tend the flowers. 
Let her tie up these scarlet lilies ; repress the luxuri- 
ance of the straymg verbenas ; pluck nosegays of the 
sweet-scented violets for her bosom ; and wear these 
blush roses in her hair. If she must die away from 
her home, what land can be less strange to her than 
this ? And there will be plenty of half-opened buds 
in the garden wherewith to deck her shroud and 
strew her grave. 



MOBILE. 145 

Alas ! however, that in late summer and early 
autumn this Spring Hill, now so green with the 
newly unfolded leaves, and so gay with every kind 
of flowers, should not escape the ravages of that 
dreadful fever which annually scourges the towns 
situated along the shores of the gulf. One would 
suppose the air too pi;re to admit of the coming of 
that dire epidemic ; but it is not so. The inhabitant 
of the suburban villa is not sheltered from the dart 
which strikes down the dweller in the crowded and 
less cleanly town. Indeed, the approach of the fatal 
fever is always heralded by the prevalence of unu- 
sually fine weather. Wlien the winds are compara- 
tively still, when the air is clear and balmy, and 
every one is saying to himself. How charming are 
these days ! and the nights, moonlit or starry, are so 
full of light — then it is that the destroyer is at the 
door. The extraordinary brilliancy of the firmament 
is but the light reflected from the wings of the 
angel commissioned by Heaven to scatter pestilence 
throughout the abodes of the children of men. The 
fine Aveather feeds fever until the frost kills it. 

But, in the springtime, nobody thinks of the pes- 
tilence of the autumn. Much as ever are the last 
year's dead remembered in a region of country annu- 
ally rejuvenated by a new invasion of strangers from 
the higher latitudes. One lives here in the present 



14G TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

moment us it flies, and pulls the roses while they 
blow. The j^ast seems almost to lade out of the 
memory as quickly as the color every evening fades 
out of the sky at sunset. Perhaps it is because, in 
these climes nearer to the sun, the day is so full of 
delights, being ever fresh with early dew, and warm 
with the rays of noon, and cool Avith the evening 
breeze. The heart, seduced by nature's boimty and 
unceasing goodness to share her sympathy, and enter 
into her joys, soon forgets its own sorrow. The men 
of business, too, lose themselves in present and press- 
ing affairs in these trading towns, as Mobile and New 
Orleans, even more than elsewhere. While the sea- 
son for business lasts, they work diligently in tlieir 
vocation, striving every day to add as many dollars 
as possible to that heap of gold which is to be their 
fortune. But once this raised to the necessary eleva- 
tion, they set off to enjoy it in their native North. 
Hence the feeling of home attachment is very feeble 
in these communities, where men reside but half a 
year, and for half a life. Hence all great public im- 
provements are made slowly, and with difficulty. 
The ties of family are more easily severed, and the 
condition of life is less favorable to good morals. 

Spring Hill is, of course, a hill — a slight natural 
elevation on these sandy shores and level plains of 
woods. From its summit, looking over an inter- 



MOBILE. 147 

vening distance of green tops of trees, one sees the 
city of Mobile ; and, beyond, Lake Pontchartrain. 
Getting out of his carriage, he strolls for a few min- 
utes in the jjleasant shade, and breathes the hilltop 
air, pure from all odors unless it be that of flowers. 
Returning through the little cluster of villas called 
Somerville, he again descends from his carriage ; for 
who could pass these magnificent liveoaks, these 
lofty pines, with bark of purple and foliage so deeply 
green, and these poplars growing as vigorously here 
as in their native Lombardy, without lingering to 
admire the luxuriant display of vegetation ? He 
wishes also to inspect more closely the roses of the 
Cloth of Gold, and the white Lamarques. The Mal- 
raaison, too, is so delicately tinted, and its petals are 
so gracefully folded, that the lover of flowers is 
never tired of looking at it. How efiiilgently the 
Giant of Battles glows,, spotting the . surrounding- 
green with crimson ! And here the Lady Bank 
climbs the China trees, adding its yellow to their 
blue. How sweetly sleeps the simlight of the noon 
on these beds of flowers ! reposing on rose leaves ; 
lying hid in the cups of the lilies ; basking on the 
crimson carpet of the verbenas ; poised on the out- 
spread calyxes of the pinks ; and cradled in the large 
blossoms of the magnolias, which on the tops of the 
tree« arc gently swinging in the wind. 



148 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

I could have spent the whole morning in these 
lanes and gardens ; bnt, the morning being already 
gone, I returned to town. 

Nor is tlie drive along the shore of the bay 
scarcely less pleasant. Take it on a warm day, 
when, as you go, you will be fanned by the sea 
breeze, freshly blowing from gulf and lake. The 
Mobilites drive over this shore road to cool their 
blood, to dry the locks moistened by j^erspiration, 
and to relax the mind overwearied by affairs. I 
selected, however, for this excursion, a very idle, 
dreamy morning, when the sun, sluggishly mounting 
the hazy zenith, seemed almost too lazy to shine. 
The lake, along the shore of which the road winds, 
lay in a slumber too profound to be interrupted by 
the faint ripples which came softly creeping up from 
the direction of tlie sea beyond. With carriage top 
thrown back, and myself reclining indolently upon 
the cushions, I was borne slowly along this winding 
way ; the horses going at their own gait, and the 
driver's whip dangling idly from its socket. With a 
temperature just soft enough, and a breeze which 
barely kept me company, and the sun's rays shorn by 
the gathered vapors of their glare, the luxury of this 
driving was almost as great as of sailing in a gondola 
upon the canals of Venice. As I passed along the 
road, the gardener was listlessly trimming his flow- 



MOBILE. 149 

ers ; the farmer stopped work to see the stranger go 
by ; the negro stood leaning against the side of the 
house, with both hands in his pockets ; and, before 
the hour of noon, the hiborers wlio had been em- 
ployed in covering the road with shells had knocked 
oif work, and, sitting on logs beneath the trees, were 
peacefully eating their dinner. And so I jogged on 
for half a dozen miles between the farms and villas, 
through groves of pines, and oaks, and magaolias. 
The Cherokee rose followed me on the hedges, and 
the Avhite flowering blackberry crept after along the 
roadsides. Were not the tall magnolia trees, with all 
their dark, glossy leaves, and white buds ready to 
burst, made beautiful enough by nature, that she 
needed- also to hang them with the grace of the wild 
grapevines ? Nor were the pitch-yielding pines f;ur 
enough to the sight, with their purple bark and nee- 
dles of green, that they must be climbed by such 
pretty parasites ? How lovely are the flowers of this 
tulip tree ! The branches, so profusely decked by 
them, overhang the road, and can almost be reached 
by the hand. I stop the carnage, and, climbing the 
fence which skirts the way, break ofi" an inviting 
bough. The flowers are green externally, having 
spots of orange and a delicate shade of yellow 
within. In shape they resemble the cup of ihe 
white water-lily. But they have no fragrance. 



150 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

And now, j^assed the magnolia grove and the 
Magnolia race course, we turn the horses' heads 
about — not, hoAvever, changing their pace. Then, in 
the depths of the forest, I saw Morpheus just lying 
down to take his siesta, and was almost tempted to 
ask him to join our company : for the carriage Avas 
an easy one, the shell road smooth, and the horses' 
hoofs beat the ground with a i-egular, monotonous 
cadence. The coachman on his box, I am sure, had 
but one eye open, the other having the night before 
been bitnged. It being now the height of noon, the 
small birds merely Avhispered to each other in the 
trees ; there was not even the lowest murmuring of 
waves on the shore ; and the cocks of the barnyards, 
if wide awake enough to crow, still did it drawl- 
ingly, and Avith a tone of voice inducing sleep rather 
than disturbing it. Such days as these it is, said I, 
that make the idlers of the South ; something in the 
very atmosphere inviting a man to sit doAvn to smoke 
his cigar and Avaste the time. They fiivor lounging, 
loafing. Under such influences from the skies, the 
ladies, instead of Avalking, loll in carriages ; and the 
gentlemen cannot sit upright in their chairs, but must 
recline Avith heels higher than head, thereby ac(iuir- 
ing the stoop of the counting house as effectually as 
from leaning over the legers. 

On my return to town, the very streets seemed to 



MOBILE. 151 

be struck with a certain degree of stupor. Tliere 
Avas no stir in them. Men were walking slowly up 
and down, or were lounging at the shop and hotel 
doors, all looking as though their Avork were done 
for the season. 

" Rather sleepy here to-day," said I to the land- 
lord. 

" Yes," he rej^lied ; " Ave are apt to have dull 
Aveather at this time. Business slackens noAV that 
the cotton is all down ; and people are beginning to 
leave for the North." 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Th e Loicer Ml ssiss ijyp i . 

THE weather, after my departure from Mobile, 
became warmer, and, in fact, perfectly tropical. 
Smisliine perpetual, or effulgent moonlight, accompa- 
nied me all the way across the azure gulf; but on the 
bar of the Mississippi a fog came out of the north, 
with rain, and wind, and cold, and thmider and light- 
ning. Climate and clothing, I made a change of both 
on this bar. I Avas let doAvn out of heaven and stuck 
in the mud in one and the same moment. During 
the voyage, our steamer had managed to attain a 
speed of eight knots the hour ; but here, with her 
keel thi-ee feet deep in the sand and slime of the 
river, she made only about eight inches. How, for 
half a day, her paddles made the yelloAV porridge of 
the Mississippi boil ! The wonder was that she got 
through into deep Avater even at the end of that 



THE LOWER MLSkHSSIPPL 153 

time. Doubtless there was a snail at her steru help- 
ing her. 

Charming sight it was to look iq^on the banks of 
black mud, barely rising above the level of the 
waters, and somewhat resembling huge leviathans 
lying at anchor, or alligators asleej:) on the surface ! 
It would have reminded one who had been a passen- 
ger in Noah's ark, of the appearance of the world 
the morning after the Deluge. Only, instead of 
doves bringing olive branches, there w\as but the 
flight of a few lazy sea gulls. Gradually, however, 
this primeval aspect of things gave place to that of 
the dry and solid earth. From mud islands, we came 
to others covered with reeds and rushes. Next suc- 
ceeded the wild grasses. Blackbirds and buzzards 
shared the sky with the sea gulls. Then appeared 
the mammalia, wild hogs, half-tamed horses, cows 
browsing in pastures which lay a foot deep under 
water, and, finally, man — that is to say, the fisher- 
man, living in a hut built on piles. Here, also, dwelt 
the lighthouse keeper, and, strange to say, the 
worker of the telegraph. The quarantuie ground — 
I might almost say water — came into view a little 
later, being wellnigh submerged, and looking like a 
pet nursery of fever and pestilence. I was strongly 
tempted to inquire of the doctor respecting the 

health of his own family, and express an affectionate 
.7* 



154 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

hope that he himself had not an ague ; for the man 
Avas thin in the cheeks, and sallow, and, in fact, 
looked quite ashamed of performing the duty of 
feeling anybody's ionise on board the steamer. I also 
wished to congratulate him on his boat ; as, in case 
the river should rise still a little higher, it might be 
the saving of himself and his household. 

Every inhabitant of this part of the river, I after- 
ward observed, was the owner of a similar boat, 
which he used for roAving himself about his small 
estate, and fishing for snappers in his fields, w^hen the 
water was too deep to dig potatoes. The dwellings 
all had the appearance of being bath houses ; built, 
in the lower part of the river, of logs, and thatched ; 
higher up the stream, shingled ; and, higher still, 
slated. But near the mouth, I could hardly have be- 
lieved it a Christian land we were entering, had we 
not pretty soon come to a fort. This was an mimis- 
takable evidence of civilization ; and the extensive 
oi-ange jilantations, which afterward began to peep 
out of the primeval forests skirting the river side, 
still more favored the idea that we were entering the 
gates of a great country. 

The quantity of driftwood in the stream was an 
indication, to be sure, of interminable forests higher 
up on its banks ; but, on the other hand, the numer- 
ous floating casks, barrels, and bottles, proved that 



THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. 155 

we were approaching some large emporium of com- 
merce. Might it not also be the seat of a prodigal 
luxury, a city flowing not only with milk and honey, 
but with ready-made cobblers and cocktails ? For 
the yellow, foaming river really seemed to be run- 
ning Avith egg-nogg — and it certainly did not run 
straight. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

JVeio Orleans. 

THE first tiling I saw, on the morning of my 
arrival in New Orleans, was the quays ; and 
the second was the cotton on them. Acres upon 
acres, indeed, of cotton bales and sugar boxes I saw 
on the quays ; and, on the river, broad 'forests of 
masts and steamers' smoke pipes, the steamers being 
])ilcd five stories high, the smoke i^ipes projecting 
into midheaven, and the whole structure, in fact, 
carried to such an altitiide, that, when there is an 
explosion, one can hardly be said to be blown up, 
but, on the contrary, blown doAvn. Yet I did not 
fully realize the fact of being in the Crescent City 
and emporium of the Southwest, until the waiter at 
the hotel brought me a pitcher of water for shaving. 
This made it as clear as mud that I had reached the 
celebrated and turbid Mississippi. The natives pre- 
tend that this river water, when properly filtered, is 



NEW ORLEANS. 157 

the third best drinking water in the world. I sus- 
pect, however, that if a person will use water rather 
than the other bcA^erages in more general favor here, 
that which falls from the skies, and is preserved in 
tanks above ground, is preferable. The bath, cer- 
tainly, nowhere looks less inviting than in this city. 
One's linen must be washed in it, as the laundress 
cannot use a more expensive liquid ; though, if lager 
beer could be obtained at a little lower price, it 
might be questioned whether the clothes would not 
come out of it looking whiter. 

The impression Avhich the stranger is likely to 
get of life in New Orleans, is, that it is sufficiently 
bizarre. In no other large American city does it 
seem so full of incongruities and irreconcilable con- 
trasts. Plere are half a dozen difierent races, and 
half a dozen dilFerent colors of the skin. In one 
quarter of the town live the Americans ; in the 
other, the French Creoles. The latter keep them- 
selves, in fact, so distinct fi'om the former, that some 
of them are said never to pass the division line of 
Canal street. In ballrooms, too, the Creole ladies — 
and lovely creatures they are, French in dress, man- 
ners, and ideas, and pleasantly transitional between 
the women of the tropics and those of the States — 
retain a portion of the floor exclusively for them- 
selves ; though always happy, I am told, to receive 



158 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the visits of the American gentlemen from the other 
side of the hall ; and even giving them a preference 
over the beaux of their own caste, the greater part 
of whom distinguish themselves rather in dancing, 
smoking, drinking, and jilaying billiards, than in more 
manly accomplishments and occupations. Among 
the quadroons I saw less beauty than corresponds 
with the reports of travellers ; while the lower class 
of the French part of the population surjjrised me 
by the roughness and ahnost insolence of its man- 
ners. Many fine, manly forms may be noticed among 
the merchants at the Exchange, and other principal 
centres of business ; but the general type of face is 
rather coarse than refined, more furrowed and knit 
with cares than expanded with generous sentiments. 

Dust, or mud, abound everywhere in this city. 
It does not always rain ; but the sun cannot burn 
out the stains of mould and damp on the older house 
walls. The buildings, excepting those recently erect- 
ed, look dingy. One-story tenements stand by the 
side of lofty warehouses, no law of harmony prevail- 
ing ; so that it takes all the finery of the shop win- 
doAvs, the i^ainted names, and the glittering sign- 
boards, to make even the most crowded streets a 
little picturesque. On these boards the names are 
Avritten in different languages, and you constantly 
overhear, on the promenades, various foreign ac- 



NEW ORLEANS. 159 

cents. In the principal cathedral the service is read 
in French ; you buy fruit at stalls kept by Spaniards ; 
the German at the market place spreads oiit his 
wares in a booth ; the Jew offers to sell you cigars 
at half the street corners ; and, in some quarters of 
the town, you can have a Chinese for a bootblack. 

There is style and dash enough here, biit little 
completeness of design or harmony of effects. In 
all the streets most marked contrasts abound. One 
meets coaches washed with gaudy and superfluous 
silver, but the coachman not washed at all. You 
pass over pavements lying deep in mud, and along 
sidewalks lined with gutters either stagnant, or 
creeping only by the aid of machinery ; and yet you 
meet ladies taking their morning walks in ermine, 
and ball dresses. The promenade of the most fash- 
ionable streets is almost as much encumbered with 
boxes of merchandise as in New York are the trot- 
toirs of Dey street. The corners, too, are beset with 
gents, loafers, orange women, and venders of roasted 
chestnuts — the latter not bad. But nowhere in all 
its course does the American sun behold so high- 
colored muslins, such flamiting silks and roseate rib- 
bons. New York has no show of millinery to com- 
pare with it. Such nosegays of hats, such cobwebs 
of laces, such loves of fans, such shawds, such bro- 
cades, such tissues ! They make this city a perfect 



100 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

little heaven for all the wives and danghters of Lou- 
isiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. And of this heav- 
en the queen is, or was, Madame Olympe. Every 
box she orders from Paris produces, when opened, 
the effect of another Pandora's, turning half the 
ladies' heads in the Mississippi country, and empty- 
ing all their purses. This, to be sure, is saying a 
good deal ; for when the cotton or sugar planter 
brings down his wife and daughters to this metropo- 
lis, he means they shall have a good time, and fur- 
nishes them with money enough to buy all the milli- 
nery they can stand under. 



The Englishman who, having come over in a 
Cunarder, takes lodgings at the St. Nicholas Hotel 
in New York, pronounces its drawing rooms stim- 
nm\ But as much more magnificent as was its 
bridal chamber than its bedrooms in the fifth story, 
so much does the one parlor of the St. Charles in 
New Orleans exceed in splendor the whole suite of 
showrooms of the New York caravansar3^ For, 
when all the cotton Avidows and cotton girls have 
bought their new dresses in Canal or Chartres street, 
they display them at once in the St. Charles parlor. 
Every chair and sofa is set out with the new silks 
and satms. You hear it whispered about, that the 
dress of white point lace worn by the young belle 
standing l)elbre you cost ])apa two thousand dollars ; 



"A 



NEW ORLEANS. 161 

and that the lady by her side, from Red River, 
flames with twenty thousand dollars' worth of jeAV- 
elry. Yonder miss has hidden herself in the coi-ner, 
because, for the embroidered muslin she has on, 
Madame Olympe did not charge but two hxmdred 
dollars. The Mississippi widow, bent on making a 
sensation, wUl not come down to the breakfast table 
in anything short of diamond brooches, and lace 
from the high altar ; while even then the dowager 
from Baton Rouge wins the general stare from her 
by planting herself vis-d-vis in pearls, and supple- 
mentary puffs made by the barber. 

But in order to carry out the contrasts of this 
Southwestern life, by the side of the fair women 
decked in all this finery you may, perhaps, see sitting 
the captain of a river steamboat, or even his purser. 
Indeed, a considerable number of the gentlemen in 
attendance on these gorgeous beUes have the look of 
men Avho might once have been head waiters, or, at 
least, have carried from town to town their bag of 
samples. Every one of them wears an enormous 
diamond pin stuck in his shirt bosom ; and some have 
either Niagara Falls, or the course of the Missis- 
sippi, or all the cards in the pack, pictured in the 
stripes of their pantaloons. They are of that class 
of men who, at home, if they cannot make theia- 
selves famous in any other way, will drive a team of 



162 '^'O DIXIE AND THE TROPIC 8. 

elks tandem / and take their wives to the ball in 
furniture wagons, in order to give them room to 
spread themselves. 

But perhaps the most striking instance of the in- 
congruities of Southwestern life may he seen at the 
hotel tables. You pay three dollars jjer day for 
drinking your coffee out of china embellished with 
the head of General Cass, or of some similar wor- 
thy, who has made himself a great name at Wash- 
ington. And this cup is brought to you, not by a 
good-lookhig Sambo with white teeth, eyes, and 
apron, but by some rude, ungainly German or Irish- 
man, who tells you that there are no fried oysters, 
that the plantains are gone, the French rolls gone, 
and, bringing two fins on a plate, informs you that 
it is the last of the red snappers. 

" I hope I am not too late for tea, Patrick ? " 
" Yes, you are. No tea after eight o'clock, sir." 
" Bridget, send me the chambermaid." 
" The chambermaid is off duty, ma'am, at six 
o'clock." 

" But are you not a chambermaid ? " 
" No, ma'am ; I'm higher. There is a girl on 
watch — only she has gone to tea ; she v.ill be back 
in an hour. You can call her." 

The mistake you made consisted in taking a wait- 
ing for a chamber maid, though in a most imtidy 
dress and soiled satin sli])pers. 



NJ!:W ORLEANS. 163 

However, you can breakfast very well on stewed 
redfish, whenever you can get it ; and you can diue 
very Avell oft' roasted turkey, fed on peanuts, when 
you can get that. But the epicure should come to 
New Orleans in the crab season, and enjoy this deli- 
cacy done in rice and curry a la Creole. 

If the time of crabs be not fully come, let him 
rather Avait a month or two before making his visit ; 
and, indeed, in case they are lean in any particular 
year, let him not come at all. He must not expect 
to eat green peas in March ; but Avill be lucky even 
to get salad. It is not for early greens, or any such 
delicacies, that he pays his twenty-one dollars per 
week, but because the hotel has been built at an 
expense of a million, one quarter of it laid out on a 
portico Avith tall Grecian pillars, as if the edifice 
were a temple, not a tavern. 

For the rest, this seems to be a city of bar and 
billiard rooms, of bowling and pistol alleys. Bar, 
billiards, and bowling are the three Bs of New 
Orleans. There is no room in the hotel so large as 
that wherein the liquor is dispensed. It being also 
an auction room, handbills of the sales lie about the 
house, and on all the public tables, those of the par- 
lor not excepted. You can look on scarcely any 
street wall Avithout being informed that, in the bar- 
room of such a hotel, there will be, on such a day, 



164 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

at such an liour, a sale of negroes, or other merchan- 
dise. The hammers of the auctioneers make as 
mnch noise here as do the fighting cocks in Cuba. 

But, to escape this clatter, you can take a drive to 
the southern part of the city, which is made beauti- 
ful by flowers. It is the garden of the town. Here 
every house is built in an enclosure well filled with 
ornamental shrubs and trees, which, during the 
spring season, are fresh with green leaves and fair 
Avith blossoms. From the liveoak hung with moss, 
to the blue violet which scents the air, all the forms 
of vegetation are full of sap and vigor. The flower- 
ing trees are of many colors — Avhite, blue, yellow, 
purple, crimson. The roses grow on tall stems, or 
climb to the roofs of the houses. The walls and trel- 
lises are covered with the blushes of these most 
lovely of flowei'S ; or they are straw-colored ; or they 
peep out of the green leaves in spotted white. And 
in the midst of them stands the solemn, graceful 
cypress, making strong contrast with oleanders and 
pitosporums. How gracefully the locust hangs out 
its tassels in the air ; the orange trees glow with the 
yellow of our sweet maples in autumn ; the Chinese 
viburnums are only less fair in their dress of green 
and white ; while the mocking birds in cages mock 
the wild birds which sing to their young in the tall 
laurel trees. 



NEW ORLEANS. 165 

This is the bright side of the town ; and the 
stranger should appropriate a sunny day to seeing it. 
Unfortunately, there are not so many such in the 
New Oi'leans spring as one might suppose from the 
repoi'ts of the local journalists, who seem to form an 
Admiration Society for the purpose of glorifying the 
city and its climate. The beauty of every bright, 
genial day is elaborately puffed by them in print. So 
is the coming of all the early fntits of the season. 
The arrival of the first pompano makes an epoch ; 
the first strawberry moistens the mouth of every 
citizen who reads the account of it in the news- 
papers ; the first dish of green peas in the market is 
sent as a present to the printer ; and, in the same 
way, all the changing delights of New Orleans life, 
its balls, its races, its theatrical shows, get an extra- 
ordinary amount of pufling. But let not the New 
Yorker, who, sitting down in the month of March to 
warm his toes before the anthracite, is entertained 
with one of these high-flown bursts of admiration, 
copied into the papers of his own city, let him not 
disturb the digestion of his metroj^olitan breakfast 
by sighing for the possession of such premature luxu- 
ries as fall to the lot of mortals inhabiting the Cres- 
cent City. Especially let him not be tempted to set 
hastily oif for the XJulf of Mexico, in order to regale 
himself with these semi-tropical delicacies. But if so 



166 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

completely infatuated by their desci-iption that he 
must needs go in pursuit of tliem, let him be per- 
suaded, at least, to take his anthracite along with 
him ; for he will need it. True, the day of his arri- 
val may very likely be so sultry as to tempt him into 
white linen ; but the day after he will shiver in flan- 
nels. Does he wish to breakfast on pompanos ? 
Certainly, they are in the market, but not in the bill 
of fare of the St. Charles Hotel. They are to be 
liad for two dollars and a half apiece, and grease 
money to the cook. He would like a dessert of 
large, ripe strawberries, such as he read of in the 
papers before leaving New York. He will be able 
to find tliem, no doubt, by going to the confection- 
er's in Canal street. 

" How much for strawberries ? " 
" Twenty dollars the gallon, sir. Have some ? " 
However, it must be acknowledged that the ex- 
traordinary things that the ISTew Yorker will see at 
the St. Charles Avill go far toward repaying him for 
the trouble of his journey. He will see gentlemen 
in purple pantaloons. Twice in the twenty-four hours 
all tlio magnificence of Red River and Arkansas 
empties itself — a perfect flood of jewels, laces, paint- 
ed silks, and muslins — into the parlor. He will see 
that. Indeed, let him look sharp at these ladies ; for, 
among them, he will find some vrith not less than 



Ni:W ORLEANS. 167 

foiir thousand cotton bales a year, and others who 
run two sets of sugar kettles. " Look at 'em straight, 
to see if you like 'em," as the orange boy said to me 
on the Mississippi steamer, when I stopped him for 
the purpose of making an investment in the contents 
of his baskets. And when the gorgeous tide is out 
of the parlor, our New Yorker may be entertained, 
by chance, with the sight of a couple of lovers on a 
sofa, sucking each an orange, Avhile they estimate the 
value of their respective crops for the next season, 
and speculate on the probable price of negroes. 
Then, when he goes to dinner, it will be an amuse- 
ment for him to divine the character and occupation 
of the gentleman sitting opposite, with such an im- 
posing countenance, with hair artistically combed 
back, with so grand an air, so much deference toward 
the lady sitting by his side. Is he a cotton lord, or a 
sugar lord, or some foreign potentate on his travels ? 
— a question which may well occupy the mind for a 
half hour, at the end of which time our traveller, on 
going down to the barroom for his j!?e^«Y verre of 
Cognac, gets the solution. His vis-d-vis is a tapman, 
and mixes juleps. 

And, finally, the New Yorker who has come 
down to New Orleans to eat early strawberries, will 
midoubtedly be asked to spend a w^eek on some plan- 
tation up the river, where he will enjoy the great 



168 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

treat of limiting the bear. This of itself will repay 
him for the trouble of having travelled a thousand 
miles, and even make him, on his return to the North, 
as famous as the English cockney, who, after the tour 
of the States, returns to London. 

" Well, Colonel," says every friend he meets, 
" you've returned from America, at last ? " 

" Why, ya-a-s." 

" Do anything there ? " 

" Why, ya-a-s ; I shot a few bear ! " 



CHAPTER XY. 

Lake Pont char train, 

I MADE the inevitable excursion to Lake Pont- 
chartrain. And, after a few days in town, it 
was a pleasant change to pass beyond the suburbs 
into the open fields, where, instead of the careworn 
faces of the Exchange, and the painted faces of 
Canal street, I saw herds of cows and oxen placidly 
grazing in the pastures. It is true that I very soon 
came to the great New Orleans swamp ; but even 
that was interesting as a specimen of that kind of 
natural scenery of which there is so much along the 
course of the Mississippi. I found it full of tall trees 
and tangled thickets, the former of which soon come 
to maturity, and soon go to decay ; so that the naked, 
dead branches and the leafy young twigs are every- 
where interlaced. It is the beauty of the garden 
and the desolation of the waste combined. Huge 
trunks lie mouldering in all directions on the ground, 



170 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

which is lialf submerged in water ; while out of 
every diy spot springs an infinite variety of shrub- 
bery, and plants bearing flowers. One hears the 
birds singing in the trees where they are building 
their nests ; and, at the same time, looks in the mud- 
holes for water snakes and alligators. 

But, now that you are at the lake, what do you 
propose to do ? Will you Avalk out upon the wharf, 
which projects far into the water ? The sun is too 
hot. Will you take a bath ? The bathing house is 
not open until later in the season, when the water is 
lukewarm ; and, besides, it is as yellow as that of the 
Mississippi, or the Tiber. Will you take a boat, and 
amuse yoiirself by sailing ? But there is no wind. 
What, then, can be done ? The New Orleanist 
knows very well Avhat to do. He walks into the 
hotel, takes a drink, and orders a fish dinner. He 
has come out here expressly to have a feast, and, 
perhaps, to gorge himself with pompanos, like a pike 
with frogs. He Avill also eat croakers, or cotirt- 
houillon of redfish, or tenderloin trout ; and the 
odds are that they will be quite tender enough. Yet 
it may be a very nice thing, a fish dinner at the lake ; 
for everybody seems to think so. For my part, how- 
ever, I preferred spending my time in exploring the 
neighboring swamp for mud turtles and alligators. 

But after having eaten your fish, if you will, and 



LAKE PONTCIIARTRAIN. 171 

seen the wharf, and seen the row of shanties along 
the shore, and fired a few rounds in the pistol gal- 
lery, and shot, of course, your alligator, you return 
by the way of the swamj) to the city. There is 
absolutely nothing else to be done or enjoyed at 
Lake Pontchartrain. 

But, I pray you, stop, on your return, at Carroll- 
ton ; for there is a garden there full of fair flowers, 
and attached to it a gardener skilful in arranging 
them in bouquets. What an infinite beauty of colors 
and graceful forms we brought to town in a single 
nosegay ! It made the foul streets fragrant, as we 
passed along, and transformed our sombre hotel 
chamber into a rustic bower or cottage piazza. Hoav 
lovely these roses of Ophir, of blended pink and 
straw-color ! how full of odor these orange blossoms, 
mignonettes, and jessamines ! And a cheap pleas- 
ure it is. For two or three paltry shillings one buys 
a great feast and entertainment, greater than can be 
purchased in our Northern towns for as many dollars. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Up the Mississippi. 

I WENT up the Mississippi in one of the very 
" crackest " boats on the river. The captain, as 
described in the editorial column of a morning paper, 
was an Esq. well known in the community ; and the 
clerk " a gentleman with whom it is a pleasure to 
travel." Strange to say, I found this description 
very nearly true. The captain, at least, was a brave 
and good-looking fellow ; while the clerk, wlien I 
mentioned to him the name of the plantation to 
which I was going, said he regretted that he should 
have to i)ut me on shore at daybreak, but Avould give 
orders to the engineer to make noise enough, on 
approaching the landing, to -svake up all the negroes 
on the place. 

Like all the best boats, this one was five stories 
high, and had the appearance of being as much out 
of the water as a duck. From one end of the caliin 



UP THE MISSISSIPPI. ■ 173 

to the other there extended a long vista, made longer 
by a mirror at the stern. In the forward part of this 
saloon Avere congregated the gentlemen, discussing 
politics, cobblers, and polka ; in the aft sat the ladies 
on sofas and Yankee rocking chairs. A small apart- 
ment in the extremest stern accommodated the maids 
and duennas ; and, though a situation the forthest 
possible removed from danger in case of explosion, I 
happened to notice that one of these colored dames 
said a prayer and crossed herself between each of the 
half-dozen cups of tea she drank at supper. No 
doubt she expected to be blown up before morning. 

This boat was celebrated for her ileetness ; and it 
was amusing to see her shoot across the bows of two 
or three rivals which had left the city a little in ad- 
vance of her. The captain apparently took pride in 
passing as near to the other boat as it was possible 
to go without coming into actual contact. There 
was some danger, to be sure, in two steamers run- 
ning at full speed within ten feet of each other ; but 
it gave a good opportimity to the jocose officers, 
Avaiters, and crews on board of both vessels to bandy 
pleasant words tbgether, 

" Captain," said I, " your ship seems to be rather 
flist." 

" Yes, sir," he replied ; " she is able to take the 
skin off the nose of any craft on this river." 



174 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

I believed liiiu ; for the boat was driven through 
tlie water with a force so great it seemed that 
another inch of steam would certainly split every- 
thing. The huge framework shook, from the vio- 
lent efforts of the engine, as if it had the ague. 
The floor shook beneath my feet ; the table shook, 
and all the dishes on it. Every door, also — every 
window and pane of glass in the enormous structure 
rattled ; while all the passengers seemed to feel very 
much as doughnuts do when shaken in the good- 
wife's saucepan. Surely, at the expiration of six or 
seven days and nights on the river, one would have 
quite enough of this mode of travelling, bepraised as 
it is in these parts ; and, even before that time, might 
well pray for a good thick fog to compel the boat to 
lie at anchor for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, 
thereby restoring quiet. 

My stateroom was neat, commodious, and of 
large size ; yet the air was too warm, and not too 
pure. Indeed, what is to prevent the odors from the 
tables, which are sj^read half the day long, and the 
odors from the barroom, pungent cnongli at all 
times, from constantly passing aft, and perfuming the 
ladies' cabin, and rooms adjoining ? 

However, I dined better and more comfortably 
tlian I remember ever to have dined on any river- 
going steamer before, the Rhine boats only excepted. 



^ VP THE MISSIS^IPFI. 175 

The neatly painted cabin made a handsome dining 
room. The tables, divided into small ones, were 
spread with linen immaculately clean. The waiters, 
Avho were all black boys in white jackets, served the 
guests with less clatter of the heels, and less nmning, 
and foaming at the mouth, than I have before wit- 
nessed in any similar crowd of attendants. My boy, 
whenever I wanted him, was always at my elbow. 
Whenever sent for any dish, he did not stop to rest 
his bones by the way. He also remembered what he 
was sent for, and did not come back with chicken 
instead of turkey, or mashed potato instead of green 
peas. He and all his fellows were evidently well 
officered, and had been subjected to a system of 
drilling second only to that of West Point. 

But the excellence of the dinner did not consist 
entirely m the clean linen and the good service. 
There was a master in the art of cooking below 
decks, who sent up his dishes in a style which put 
the cooks of the great hotels on shore noichere. 
Think of having your choice, on board a steamboat, 
between three different kinds of such fish as boiled 
sheep's head, baked snapper, and barbecued redfish 
— not to mention side dishes, like oyster pie and 
stuffed crabs ! Think, too, of such extraordinary 
dishes on a steamboat table as calves' feet cooked as 
they are cooked in Portugal, and ox tongue done as 



176 TO DIXIi: AND THE TROPICS. 

they do it in Macedonia ! Think, also, of boned 
calves' head, of maccaroni timhale., of briskets of 
pork a la Perujord^ and of veal in a blanket of mush- 
rooms ! Think, finally, of no less tlian seventeen 
different dishes of sweets, many of them with 
strange names and stranger aspect ! 

But in order not to represent the feast as abso- 
lutely perfect, it must be confessed that the tables 
did shake a little — that the custards were in a state 
of perpetual churning — and that the forms of jelly, 
trembling, threatened to jump overboard. If there 
was none of the risk experienced in sea-going steam- 
ers, of having the soup transferred from plate to lap, 
one could, at least, not help thinking that he Avould 
feel more secure of his dinner if well lashed to it. 
jSTobody, I observed, dared drink any stronger wine 
than the ordinary claret, which was furnished as a 
part of the dmner ; the guests seeming to consider 
how easy a thing it would be to tumble from such 
uneasy chairs imder the table. 

As the captain did not land me until an hour or 
two after daylight, there was no need of any extra 
noise to wake up the negroes. But from the amount 
of whistling and screaming the engines performed 
during the night, Avhcther on stopping at w\ay sta- 
tions for the accommodation of mails and passen- 
gers, or in saluting other boats and river craft, I 



UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 177 

should say that there could not have been much 
sleei^ing on the banks of the river, except by persons 
whose ears were very familiar with steam music. 

Put out in the early morning upon the levee, I 
was left there without a soul to help me — not one 
compassionate cabman even. My arrival not being 
expected at that hour, the family coach, of course, 
was not in waiting. What, then, was I to do Avith 
eitlier myself or my luggage ? Clearly, I was to do 
as Southeni people do — wait ; and, what was better, 
enjoy the freshness of the beautiful morning by this 
broad river side. 

Tlie wild fowl were flying, with cheerful cry, 
hither and thither ovei' the water ; or feeding and 
gambolling on shallow places near the shore, im- 
scared by the fowler. The river hurried by, never 
resting ; while all nature, on that still mornmg, lay 
in repose. The grass upon the banks and fields Avas 
a soft green ; as far as the eye could reach beyoiid 
ran the level woods ; and, over all, the sun just risen 
shed the mild light of a morning in spring. I 
Avaited,. but not impatiently — enjoying the satisfac- 
tion, besides, of knoAving that the solid ground be- 
neath my feet could not be shaken by anything short 
of an earthquake. 

At last, a black boy of tender years came from 
the mansion house, having been sent to ascertain the 



178 TO DIXIE AND THE I^ROPICS. 

cause of the boat's stopping. Pic was just big 
enough to carry my small " traps ;" and, leaving the 
trunks on the shore, I walked slowly on behind the 
little guide. But before going far, a stout negress 
came trotting toward me, to see who was corahig ; 
nor had I received her salutations before a negro on 
horseback hove in sight. My escort increased at 
every step, luitil I arrived at the gate of the mansion, 
where still another small negro bade me welcome, 
and asked me to walk in. 



CHAPTER XT 11. 

A Sugar Plantation. 

\1IIS plantation is one of tlie largest on the 
Mississippi. It lies lower, indeed, tlian the 
river, as do the others all the Avay to New Orleans ; 
the water being kei:)t in its channel by an embank- 
ment ten or more feet in height. The whole estate, 
extending three or four miles back from the river, is 
wellnigh as level as a house floor. Its soil is culti- 
vated by two or three hundred negroes, male and 
female, and almost half as many mules and horses. 
Just now they arc planting the sugar cane, ploughing 
Avith six mules and two negroes — one of the latter 
driving, and the other holding the plough. There 
are smaller teams, however, in the lighter ground, 
consisting of two mules, and one man or Avoman. 
One sees a whole acre of blacks of both sexes at 
Avork AAath hoes, covering the canes. They labor 
from daAvn until dusk, with a couj^le of hours of rest 



180 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

at noon ; and, being Leliind in their planting on 
account of the wet state of the hinds, they are noAV 
working very briskly, and do not rest on Sunday. 
They have, however, plenty of the " hog and iiom- 
iny " wliich the negro so much delights in ; are re- 
markably healthy looking, and wear, for the most 
part, good-natured, haj)py faces. 

There is a whole yardful of little ones, who are 
kept colonized apart from their elders, and number 
about sixty. A bright, roguish set they are, as 
merry as so many blackbirds, and far blacker. 
Ranged in a row before us, they stood all the while 
giggling, and stretching their mouths at each other. 
A portion of them were also made to dance on a 
platform, which they did with a will, shuffling with 
their heels, and suiging, in full chorus, " Oh ! Avait 
for de Avagon," and " Ole Dan Tucker." 

After inspecting the little negroes, we looked at 
the other live stock. At the call of an old Avoman, 
turkeys, hens, chickens, geese, peacocks, and guinea 
foAvls came running and flying to get their dinner. 
Then a nimble black boy Avas sent over the fence to 
rim among the trees and bushes, for the purpose of 
driving into the open ground a herd of tame deer, 
Avhich Ave had the pleasure of seeing leap and run 
from one end of the park to the other. 

This plantation is a lit tie Avorld of itself. Corn, 



A SUGAR PLANTATION. 181 

as well as sugar, is raised here, and is ground in a 
steam mill into the whitest of hominy. Here are 
herds of horses, mules, and cows, and flocks of 
sheep. There is no lack of milk for the children, 
and butter is chiu'ned every morning by a little ne- 
gress in a stone pot almost as tall as she is. Her mis- 
tress says she sometimes goes to sleep at the task, 
though still keeping up the churning. Several me- 
chanical trades, likewise, are carried on, as the car- 
penter's, the smith's, the cooper's. There are a 
dozen outhouses of all kinds in the yard — icehouse, 
hencoop, terrapin pen, laundry, dairy, &c. At a 
little distance from the mansion stands the sugar 
mill ; and connected with it is a small village of / 

negro houses, all neatly whitewashed. I 

During our visit, there occurred a succession of 
beautiful days, beautiful as pearls upon the strmg. 
The sunrise, so praised by the poets, we here found 
to be no fable ; and all that had been said by this 
fibbing class of writers respecting the beauty of the 
early dewdrops, ijestled in rose petals pendent from 
honeysuckles, cradled in the hollows of leaves, and 
flashing like gems from every spear of grass and 
blade of clover, we discovered to be simple verity. 
It was the freshness of the Northern spring morning, 
but warm and soft as the morning of the Northern 
siunmer. And Avhat a sweet fellowship of life was 



182 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

it to breathe the same air as the roses and the honey- 
suckles ! What calmness of joy to walk in these 
paths where the myrtle blooms, and the sweet-scented 
violet ! Tlie wild olive, also, is fragrant, and so is 
the banana shrub, bearing corollas chocolate-colored. 
Here, on these lawns, is a perfect harmony of flow- 
ers of every hue ; and here, besides, grow great 
numbers of strange, semi-tropical plants, and trees 
which love the sun. At the same time, the ear is 
captivated with a chorus of mocking birds, and other 
sweet-throated songsters ; for the birds all fly to 
these gardens, taking delight, apparently, in this 
beauty of foliage and flower, and made also more 
cheerful themselves from the addition they bring to 
the hapj)incss of man. Such mornings are like nose- 
gays, which never fade, and live forever in the 
memory. 

Nor is the spring noontide on the banks of the 
Mississippi scarcely less pleasing. The thermometer 
seems at fault when it indicates a temperature of 
eighty-five degrees of Fahrenheit; for the air is 
quite cool and fresh. One is comfortable in thin 
Avoollen. Light, capricious breezes are humming, at 
intervals, in the tops of the cypresses, and softly 
caressing the roses which hang swinging from the 
branches of the China trees. Sitting in the pleasant 
shade, one is faimed by them as gently as by })cacock 



A SUGAR PLANTATION. 183 

feathers waved over his head by slaves. Indeed, 
these airs seem to take as much delight in idling 
away the noontide as we ourselves do, swinging from 
treetop to treetoj), balancing themselves on the poj)- 
lar leaves, and finding sufficient occupation, as they 
come from this side or from that, in bringing us now 
the scent of roses, or pinks, or violets, and now the 
incense of orange blossoms or honeysuckles. The 
voices of the hundred mocking birds in these groves 
and thickets are softly subdued, at this hour of the 
day, their superabundant joy getting vent only in 
imdertones and half notes. The drowsy hiunming 
of the bees is almost audible. And how sweetly the 
low bleating of the lambs, as they nibble the white 
blossoms of the clover pastures, harmonizes with this 
calm of the Southern noontide ; while the shrill 
crowing of the cock on a neighboring plantation sug- 
gests to the ear almost a discord ! The cattle, tired 
of cropping the luxuriant lawn, now lie huddled in 
the shade of the broad liveoaks ; the negro garden- 
ers, who have been mowing the fragrant grass, or 
trimming the too adventuroixs climbing plants, now 
eat their midday meal, sitting with their backs 
against the fence, or lie sleeping after it in the full 
sunlight; Avhile we, pleasure seekers, wish for no 
better entertainment than to spend the sunny hours 
on the cool piazza, turning some pleasant, desultory 



r 



184 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

pages ; or, in gentle converse, strolling idly up and 
down, plucking now a rose from its cloth of gold, 
hung down from the balcony, and now a honeysuckle 
from its bi'ight tapestry of purple and scarlet. Is 
not this tlie perfection of still life ? Surely it is its 
ecstasy. 

''^' Fortunate is the traveller who, after weeks and 
months spent in hotels, is received as a guest in sucli 
a house as this, to he entertained by the sight of 
cheerful, affectionate faces, and to take up his quar- 
ters, for the time being, in a clean, well-furnished 
chamber looking toward the suni'ise ! What a lux- 
ury there is in white linen again, and carpets soft to 
the feet ! Welcome is the sight of French porce- 
lain, powder puff, and pomatum ! And what an air 
of good nature pervades the house, the service of 
which is performed by Africans, whose mouths arc 
ready to grin with cheerful ivory at the first kind 
word addressed to them ! 

The day's routine is as folloAVs : In the morning, 
being a wise man, one rises with the sun, and saiui- 
ters through the grounds to enjoy the cool of the 
day ; or he gets into the saddle, appropriating to his 
use the legs of a horse, who cradles him about for 
an hour or two over the estate, or up and down the 
river bank. Breakfast by this time being more a 
necessity than a luxury, he will relish corn cakes and 



A SUGAR PLANTATION. 185 

hominy, eggs and bacon, butter newly cliurned and 
greens from the garden. The plantation breakfast 
is a simple one, to eat Avhicli requires vigorous diges- 
tive powers rather than any particular refinement of 
palate. After this meal it is the regular order of 
sugar-plantmg life to begin the day's smoking — 
though it would seem as if cigars w^ere better suited 
to a country where there are fewer flowers. But 
either cigar in mouth or rose in buttonhole — one 
can have his choice. At this period of the day, also, 
it is projjer to read or write ; only doing so in mod- 
eration, and breaking up the continuity of labor by 
frequent intei'vals of idling, talking, listening to the 
mocking birds, observing the soaring of the turkey 
vultures, and the gay, fluttering apparition of the 
butterflies. The lovers of the dog and gun, too, may 
go out for birds, or bears ; for there is plenty of 
game in the swamp, and there is a swamp attached 
to every plantation. 

Your dinner you will eat when it is ready ; and 
that may be, very likely, an hour behind time. For 
it is two o'clock on a plantation until it is three, and 
three until it is four, and so through the round of all 
the twenty-four hours. You ought to get very good 
gumbo in tliis part of the world ; and on feast days 
you are entitled to terrapin, no plantation yard being 
perfect without a terrapin pen in it. The beef is 



186 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPIC'S. 

good, provided it come down the river from St. 
Louis, and the Western pi'airies ; but where there 
are no hills there can be no mountain nuitton. Corn 
cakes are current at every meal. The ham is as sure 
to be on the table as are its legs to be under it. In 
March, green peas and strawberries are seasonable ; 
and if they are not forthcoming at that time, the 
gardener will always have a good excuse for it. 
Pecan nuts will not fail you ; for they grow abun- 
dantly in this region, and are picked by the negroes 
at halves. Your claret comes from New Orleans in 
the cask, and is well worth the three hundred dollars 
which has been paid for it. So, on the whole, your 
fare is satisfactory, and to be accepted with thank- 
fulness. 

After dinner there is but one thing to be done. 
You are put into the coach ; and, after having ridden 
over all the country A^dthout ceremony in the morn- 
ing, you will be driven over the same, after dinner, 
in state. The family coach is always a respectable 
vehicle, if an old one ; but may be a little flashy if 
bran new. The coachman, however, is a simj^le black 
boy, in a glazed hat, without tag or tassel ; and, be- 
liind, sits Avith dangling heels a smaller one, in a 
straw hat and neatly patched breeches. Nor is this 
last boy by any means the fifth wheel in the coach. 
On the contrary, he makes himself exceedingly use- 



A SUGAR PLANTATION. 187 

ful in opening doors and gates, and doing all your 
bidding. 

And so goes the day. So goes every day ; for 
there is little variety in this kind of life. When 
there is a fine sunset, of coxxrse you look at it ; but 
beware of the evenings, which are damp — often 
chilly. Do not expect to enjoy them as in Cuba ; 
but, there being neither ball nor opera, draw your 
nightcap over your eyes at an early hour, and be sure 
that no windows looking toward the north are left 
open. From any other point of the compass air may 
be allowed to come into the bedchamber during the 
night without risk to health ; but out of the north 
star come sudden and very dangerous changes of 
weather in this climate. 

On these banks of the Mississippi the home is not 
quite so permanent an institution as one might sup- 
pose from the large size of the estates. For the 
business of sugar growing being of such a nature 
that it can be profitably managed only by a single 
directing mind, it often happens, on the death of the 
planter, that no convenient disposition can be made 
of the property among the heirs, except by its sale. 
The equal distribution of estates among the children 
of the deceased lias the eifect to turn tliem all out 
of the house and home which was their father's, no 
one being rich enough to receive it as his portion. 



188 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Hence sugar planters rarely can afford to erect costly 
mansion houses ; and, if they do build them, such 
property is liable to come into the possession of 
strangers, rather than to be retained by the family 
during a succession of generations. Plence, also, 
these homes can be expected to contain but few heir- 
looms of the past, or costly works of art, or large 
libraries, or valuable furniture. Much as ever will 
they be shaded by tall, ancestral trees, or surrounded 
by fine old parks and extensive pleasure grounds. 
Generally, the house must be a cheap, wooden one, 
situated in a small lawn and yard of flowers ; and, 
indeed, it should be so bixilt that it can be torn down 
without too much trouble ; for our new democratic 
generations must have new houses. The only pity 
is, that the old family associations have to be broken 
lip, and scattered with the old rafters and dooi-posts. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
A Western Hotel. 

IT was late on a raiiiy evening that I arrived at 
the great Western city of . On entering 

the liotel which had been recommended to me, I 
found the hall filled like a merchant's exchange, and 
made my way to the office, not without some diffi- 
culty. The clerks were all too busy to notice my 
arrival. I was not asked to register my name in the 
hotel book, but did so without invitation. After 
waiting some little time, however, I succeeded in 
catching the eye of a clerk, when Ave held the follow- 
ing conversation together : 

" Have you a room for me ? " 

" Not a room in the house, sir." 

" Well, give me a cot, then." 

" Not a cot in the house, sir." 

" But I am ill, and can go no farther. You may 
give me a sofa — anything." 



190 TO DIXIE AND THE TROFICS. 

" Not a sofa in tlie house, sir. Nothing in the 
house, sir." 

And the clerk passed on, to say the same thing to 
another applicant for hospitality — and to another — 
until he was so tired of refusing, that he did it Avith- 
out pity, or even politeness. I turned on my heel ; 
and, at the same instant, turned on his heel toward 
me one of the bystanders. It was a small provi- 
dence, for he was a good Samaritan from New York, 
who picked me up in my hour of need, and gave me 
a cot in his empty parlor. 

I then learned that I had arrived at fhe wrong 
hour in the day. In the great Western hotels, the 
tide of travel ebbs and flows twice in the twenty- 
four hours as regularly as the oceaji follows the 
moon. After nine o'clock in the morning, rooms are 
as easy to be had as any drug in the market ; after 
nine in the evening they can rarely be obtained for 
money, and never for love. The hospitality of the 
house ceases at nine p. m. The civility of the clerks 
is completely exhausted by that time. Travellers 
arriving later than that are a nuisance to all the offi- 
cials, from landlord to chambei'maid. The cold, in- 
hospitable looks the belated comer gets all round 
seem to say to him, " Why did you not arrive earlier 
in the day, sir?" If it would do any good, you 
might easily account for the lateness of your getting 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 191 

to town, and show that the blame rested on other 
shoulders than your own ; but it will be of no avail. 
You can have as many apartments as you please to- 
morrow morning ; but to-night you must get your 
sleep on three chairs, or walking the hall, if you hap- 
pen to be a somnambulist. 

So it is year in and year out, A jDorter gifted 
with a strong pair of lungs is kept pretty constantly 
perambulating the halls of the house, and bawling 
out, loud enough to waken every sleeper and stim 
every waker, " All aboard ! all aboard ! Omnibus 
ready for the cars ! " A person accustomed to the 
quiet of his own mansion may be annoyed by this ; 
but before he has lived forty days in the hotel, he 
pays no more attention to them than to the hand 
organ which nightly grinds its grist of melodies 
under his Avindows. Not less embarrassing are the 
piles of luggage heaped up in the halls and passage 
ways, against which one is constantly liable to run 
his nose or bark his shins. And when the trunks are 
loaded on the backs of hurrying porters, the risk of 
a collision is still greater ; for poor Paddy, with half 
a ton of trunks to his back, is blind as a bat, and sees 
nothing but the main chance of the open doorway. 
The traveller is more in danger of being run down in 
his hotel than on the river, or the rail. Porters, 
waiters, guests, all are in quick motion ; and one or 



192 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the other is j^retty sure to knock him over. Indeed, 
the society of a Western hotel is in a constant flux. 
Tlie universe, in the Hegelian philosophy, is not more 
fluid. Every man is either just in from Cincinnati 
or Chicago, or he is just starting for one of these 
places. Unless he makes his himdred miles between 
breakfast and dinner, he counts himself an idler, and 
talks of growing rusty. A great deal of his business 
he transacts " aboard the cars," or the steamboats ; 
some of it at the hotels ; and all of it on his feet, 
and ready to " bolt." The dinner table, too, is an 
exchange for him. Business before soup — it is the 
first course of the dinner, and the last. Between fish 
and pudding he will sell a prairie. With every 
mouthful of bread he will engage to deliver ten thou- 
sand bushels of wheat. The " upset price " is 
knocked hard down on the table Avith the end of his 
knife handle ; and the bargain is clinched by help of 
the nut cracker or the sugar tongs. If he sees his 
next neighbor prefer mutton, he at once offers to sell 
him sheep by the thousand ; if he dines on pork, he 
will invite him to go into a speculation in hogs. His 
railroad shares he will dispose of at the price of pea- 
nuts ; and his State bonds he will give away to any 
one who will pay his champagne bill, and the piper 
generally ; or rather, he would do so a few years 
affo. 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 193 

I was not so ill as to prevent my getting down to 
the table at mealtime. This was the chief amuse- 
ment of my day, being as good a liigh-low comedy 
as may be seen on any stage, at least west of the 
Alleghanies. The table groans with good things. 
Here are the veritable solids, and none of what the 
Frenchman calls les choses maigres. The waiters 
drop fatness, literally. Your plate is brought to you 
heaped ujrwith roast beef. Every third man has his 
pudding. The waiters hand about the iced cream in 
slices, whicli suggest the resemblance of small prai- 
ries. And, finally, the dinner goes off, like the finale 
of a display of fireworks, with " Jenny Lind cake," 
" vanities," " cookeys," " lady fingers," "jelly snips," 
and " pecans." 

The only difiiculty is in getting little enough of 
anything you may call for. Just a bit of a thing — 
un morceau — is an impossibility. A thin cut can't be 
had. A man, therefore, with a delicate stomach, is 
entirely out of place here, where the arrangements 
are all designed for persons who are ready to " go 
the whole animal." When I came down in the even- 
ing, to get a cup of tea and a bite at a biscuit, I 
never could escape the everlasting " Have a beef- 
steak, sir ? " of the waiters. 'Tis a great country out 
West, and the men w^ho live in it are feeders to cor- 
respond. They want their meat three times a day, 
9 



194 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

as regularly as poor Pat does when lie leaves his 
potato island and arrives in this land of beeves and 
buffaloes. Even their horses have freer access to the 
corn crib than negroes do in Virghiia. The Western 
man expects to see plenty around him. Nothmg is 
too good for him. He never stops to count the cost. 
Corn and wine are his — honey, and the honeycomb. 
The cattle on a thousand acres are his also. The 
prairies are white with his flocks; the eye follows 
the waving grain to the horizon ; the buffalo yields 
him its tongue, the bear its haunches, and the buck 
his saddle ; the wild turkey is brought in from the 
forests, the canvas-back duck from the bays, and the 
pinnated grouse from the prairies ; the salmon trout 
is caught at Mackinaw, the whitefish fill the lakes, 
and oysters " hermetically sealed " arrive by express 
from the seaboard, every day in their season. 

There is plenty and to spare of all things, save of 
art. The kitchen is indeed no ciiisine. The cook is 
not " abroad " in these parts. He is coming, doubt- 
less, in " the good time," but has not yet arrived. 
StUl there is, here and there, a pioneer from Paris, 
come out to try his 'prentice hand, and " rough it." 
There was one such in my hotel ; but both his dishes 
and his" French were execrable. He daily served up 
such figures of speech as " Calf's head a la Finan- 
cire," "Lfin)b chop santees," and "Macaroni a la 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 195 

Italienare." These mistakes one might be disposed to 
attribute to the printer — a " devil " on whom is heaped 
a multitude of sins not his own ; but the dishes them- 
selves forbade it. Evidently these and their printed 
names were by the same master, and were worthy 
each of the other. However, 'twas all Greek to the 
majority of the " customers." The gods on Olympus 
did not know French, and the Western traveller 
finds ambrosia in e^'ery platter, s^nte of the mis- 
spelling. He goes for the ^Kites — finds them good, 
and doesn't trouble his head aboiit the 2^(ffois. Still 
there are those — Comiecticut men, no doubt, by ori- 
gin — who will not eat of any dish that has not a 
plain Old Testament name to it. They admit of but 
one exception. " I'll trouble you," said such a one 
at my side, " to pass me that platter of shoat and 
beans." He felt his native partialities melting in his 
mouth, and could neither Avait his turn nor be with- 
stood. " I'll just thank you, stranger, for that plat- 
ter," he repeated, in a beseechmg tone of voice, 
Avhich quickly moved my pity, at the same time 
pointing and beckoning with both hands. After he 
had " gone the Avhole hog," he asked the Avaiter if he 
had any doughnuts. " Doo-noots ? " replied Pat, com- 
pletely at his Avit's end ; " I'm a-thinkin' them noots 
don't groAV in this counthry, sir." Upon my Avord, it 
was the only thing I ever heard asked for at that table 



196 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

which was not t5 be had. To console my neighbor, I 

told him that doughnuts were plentiful m D , for 

I had seen them piled up there in tall pyramids, or 
after the fashion of children's cob houses. Where- 
upon he informed me that he would stop a day at 

D on his return. I advised him to do so. 

But the best part of the dinner remains to be dis- 
cussed — 'tis the waiters. I took more pleasure in 
these than in anything they brought me. Of all 
places in this country, I had always supposed that 
New York was the one for seeing Paddy in his 
truest and most emerald colors. But 'tis a mistake. 
He is imported in still more native purity into the 
West. It is said that the hotel keepers here send 
out a practised hunter from the plains, vv^ho catches 
Patrick in his wildest state by means of the lasso, 
and forwards him " express " by way of the St. Law- 
rence and the lakes ; so that he is landed at Chicago 
without change of cloth or color. Then he is put 
into cast-off clothes — not a particularly good fit — is 
instructed to subdue his rebellious locks with poma- 
tum, and is set to serve tables. He pretty soon 
learns what a beefsteak is, for he eats three a day 
himself. At the same time he learns, experimentally, 
the difference between wheat rolls and potatoes. In 
the course of a week or two he gets pretty familiar 
with the necessaries of life : and then begins to beat 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 197 

his brains to learn the names of the hixuries of the 
table. He makes some progress mitil he gets to the 
French dishes. These confound him. He don't 
know French at all, at all. If, at this stage of his 
novitiate, you call upon him for a fricassee^ he brings 
you the fricandeau ; if you demand a vol-au-vent^ 
he runs the whole length of the table for the pigeon 
pie ; if you wish for a meringue glacee^ he thinks 'tis 
a plate of ice ; and if you order crime fouettee, he 
asks if you will have it boiled. When you decide 
upon roast beef, his question is, " Done, sir, or not 
done ? " Should you tell him, in selecting turkey, to 
bring the drumstick, he would inquire if you meant 
the stick he beats the gong with. His ideas are all 
as wild as prairie colts. 

Still this is Patrick's palmy condition, and best 
estate as a w^aiter. For, by the time he has served 
out his apprenticeship, he is ruined for his trade. It 
takes a certain number of months for him to get it 
well into his head that he is in a free coimtry ; and 
this idea, once fully comprehended, is enough to spoil 
the best waiter that ever came from Ireland. Hav- 
ing a few shillings rattling ui liis pocket, he i-ealizes 
the fact that he is his own man. Then he begins to 
put on airs not in keeping with table waiting and 
bottle Avashing. Wliile serving at meals, he hangs 
carelessly by your chair back, with greasy lingers ; 



198 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

SO that every day, after dinner, you have to send 
your coat to the cleaner's to get the marks of the 
beast rubbed out of it. He now knoAvs fat from 
lean, tough from tender, and where the meat is 
sweetest ; but unless you fee him every second or 
third morning, you Avill be none the better for his 
increase of knowledge. He is disjjosed to be short 
and crisp, as if belonging himself to the upper crust 
of society. He laughs behind your back, with 
Jimmy, at every small practical joke that may be 
enacted at the tables. If a farmer asks for a bowl 
of bread and milk for his supper, and then peppers 
it, first black, then red, he lauglis at that. Or if a 
gentleman, not being able to swallow water without 
brandy to it, puts a glass of it into his soup, he 
laughs at that. l!very leisure moment he gathers 
Jimmy and Dick together to chatter with them. 
Tlien, if yoii call him, he is sitddenly deaf as an 
adder. He can neither hear nor see. And when the 
guests gradually leave the table, and work slackens, 
I have seen him lounge out on to the balcony, settle 
himself in an armchair, cock his feet uj) over the rail- 
ing, and quietly smoke his cigar. 

Patrick is now ready for a strike for higher 
wages. At the first word of reprimand lie will 
throw up his place. He is too independent to be 
drilled into line, and always takes the covers ofi^ out 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 199 

of time. Look out for him when he comes in with 
his platters — his very miportance will run you down. 
He is still ignorant, still a-wkward ; but, with ten dol- 
lars in his pocket, he is abashed by nothing in heaven 
or earth ; and unless he can have four beefsteaks a 
day, he threatens to go back to Ireland. The truth 
is, that the sense of freedom is so strong at the 
West, it spoils all men for service. Our naturaliza- 
tion laws are annually the ruin of a great many ex- 
cellent scullions and shoeblacks. Nature struggles 
hard on their side, but our republican institutions 
prevail. ■ 

The society one meets in a Western hotel consists 
principally of the gentlemen of the road. I mean 
the railroad men, so called — road builders and road 
owners. There ai*e, also, the men of real estate, w^ho 
deal in prairie and river bottoms. There are grain 
and lumber merchants. There are speculators of 
every kind. But all have only one thought in their 
minds. To buy, sell, and get gain — this is the spirit 
that pervades this house, and the country. The 
chances of making fortunes in business or speculation 
are so great, that everybody tln-ows the dice. Five 
years hence- every man expects to be a nabob. I saw 
in the West no signs of quiet enjoyment of life as it 
passes, but only of a haste to get rich. Here are.no 
'idlers. The poor — if any such there be — and the 



200 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

wealthy are all equally hard at work. Beyond the 
AUeghanies the day has no siesta in it. Life is a 
race, with no chance of repose except Leyond the 
goal. The higher arts which adorn human existence 
— elegant letters, divine philosophy — these have not 
yet reached the Mississippi. They are far off. There 
are neither gods nor graces on the prairies yet. One 
sees only the sower sowing his seed. No poets 
inhabit the savannas of Iowa, or the banks of the 
Yellow Stone. These are the emigrants' homes. 
Life in the valley of the Mississippi is, in fact, but 
pioneering, and has a heavy pack to its back. At 
present, the inhabitants are hewing wood and draw- 
ing water — laying the foimdations of a civilization 
which is yet to be, and such as never hath been 
before. This they are doing with an energy superior 
to that which built Carthage or Ilium. Though men 
do not write books there, or paint pictures, there is 
no lack, in our Western world, of mind. The genius 
of this new country is necessarily mechanical. Our 
greatest thinkers are not in the library, nor the capi- 
tol, but in the machine shop. The American people 
is intent on studying, not the beautiful records of a 
past civilization, not the hieroglyphic monuments of 
ancient genius, but how best to subdue and till the 
soil of its boundless territories ; how to build roads 
and ships ; how to apply the powers of nature to the 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 201 

work of manuflictuiing its rich materials into forms 
of utility and enjoyment. The youth of this country 
are learning the sciences, not as theories, hut with 
reference to thoir application to the arts. Our edu- 
cation is no genial culture of letters, but simply 
learning the use of tools. Even literature is culti- 
vated for its jobs ; and tlie fine arts are foUoAved as 
a trade. The prayer of this young country is, 
"Give us this day oiu* daily bread;" and for the 
other petitions of the Pater Noster it has no time. 
So must it be for the present. We must be content 
with little literature, less art, and only nature in per- 
fection. We are to be busy, not happy. For we 
live for futurity, and are doing the work of two 
generations yet unborn. 

Everything is beautiful in its season. What is 
now wanted in this country is, that all learned black- 
smiths stick to their anvils. No fields of usefulness 
can be cultivated by them- to so great advantage as 
the floor of their own smithy. In good time, the 
Western bottom lands will spontaneously grow 
poets. The American mind will be brought to ma- 
turity along the chain of the great lakes, the banks 
of the Mississippi, the Missouri, and their tributaries 
iu the far Nortliwest. There, on the rolling plains, 
will be formed a republic of letters, Avhich, not gov- 
erned, like that on our seaboard, by the great literary 
9* 



202 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

powers of Europe, shall be free indeed. For there 
character is growing up with a breadth equal to the 
sweep of the great valleys ; dwarfed by no factitious 
ceremonies or usages, no precedents or written stat- 
utes, no old superstition or tyranny. The winds 
sweep unhindered, from the lakes to the gulf, from 
the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains ; and so do 
the thoughts of the lord of the prairies. He is be- 
holden to no man, being bound neither head nor 
foot. He is an independent world himself, and 
speaks his own mind. Some day he will make his 
own books, as well as his own laws. He will not 
send to Europe for either pictures or opinions. He 
will remain on his prairie, and all the arts of the 
world Avill come and make obeisance to him, like the 
sheaves in his fields. He will be the American man, 
and beside him there will be none else. 

Of course, one does not go to the West to study 
fashions or manners. The guests of a Western hotel 
would not bear being transported to Almack's with- 
out some previous instruction in bowing and scraping, 
or some important changes of apparel. Foreign 
critics, travelling in pursuit of the comical, do not 
fail of finding it here in dress, in conversation, in 
conduct : for men here show all their idiosyncrasies. 
There are no disguises. Speech is plump, hearty, 
aimed at the bull's eye ; and without elegant phrase 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 203 

or compliment. On the road, one may meet the 
good Samaritan, bnt not Beau Brummell. Anything 
a Western man can do for you, he will do with all 
his heart ; only he cannot flatter you with unmeaning 
promises. You shall he welcome at his cabin ; but 
he cannot dispense his hospitality in black coat and 
white cravat. His work is too serious to be done in 
patent leathers. He is, in outward appearance, as 
gnarled as his oaks, but brave, strong, humane, with 
the oak's great heart and pith. The prairie man is a 
six-foot animal, broad shouldered and broad fore- 
headed ; better suited to cutting up corn than t;ut- 
ting a figure in a dance, to throwing the bowie knife 
than to thrumming the guitar. In Europe, a man 
always betrays a consciousness of the quality of the 
person in whose presence he is standing. If he face 
a lord, it is with submission ; if a tradesman, Avith 
haughtiness ; if a servant, with authority ; if a beg- 
gar, with indifference. At the West, two persons 
meeting stand over against each other like two door- 
posts. Neither gives signs of superiority or inferi- 
ority. They have no intention of either flattering or 
imposing upon each other. Words are not wasted. 
So is the cut of each othei''s coat a matter of perfect 
indifference. Probably the man who is " up for Con- 
gress" wears the shabbier one of the two. If dis- 
posed to make a show at all, the Western gent is 



204 TO DIXIE AND THE TROFICS. 

more ajDt to be proud of his horses than his broad- 
cloth. His tread may occasionally have something 
in it indicative of the lord of the prairie ; but he has 
little or no small nonsense about him. The only 
exception is, perhaps, a rather large-sized diamond 
pin in liis shirt bosom. 

The Western cockney differs considerably from 
him of New York. He has more of the " ready- 
made-clothing " appearance about him, and wears his 
hat drawn closer down over his left eye. Some- 
times his cigar is in his buttonhole, and sometimes 
in Ms cheek. He chews tobacco. He vibrates be- 
tween sherry cobblers and mint juleps. His stick is 
no slight ratan, but a thick hickory or buckeye, and 
has a handle large enough to allow of its being car- 
ried suspended from his shoulder. His watch chain 
is very heavy — lead inside, and gold out. He is 
learned in politics, and boasts that a United States 
senator from his State once put his arm around his 
neck, and slapped him familiarly between the shoul- 
ders. When he was in Washington, he messed with 
the Western members of the House ; and, as Botts 
did with President Tyler, he slept with them. He 
knows, personally, all the Western judges and gen- 
erals in Congress ; bets at all the elections ; and 
makes money out of them, let Avhichever j^arty con- 
quer. He also goes in the steamboats whenever 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 205 

there is to be a race ; plays " poker " on board, and 
lives on the profits. He has a small capital in wild 
lands, likewise, and owns a few corner lots in Cairo, 
and other cities laid down in his maps. These he 
will sell cheap for cash. He affects the man of busi- 
ness, and ignores ladies' society. His evenings are 
spent at a club house, having the name of " Young 
America " blazoned on its front in large gilt letters. 
He dines at the crack hotel of the town ; and, hav- 
ing free passes over all railroads, he keeps up his 
importance in the world by going to and fro, and 
putting on the airs of a man owning half the West- 
ern country. 

A family of Germans going by the hotel, one 
morning, as I sat by the Avindow, struck me as the 
most remarkable show I had seen in the West. It 
was, indeed, nothing ncAV or uncommon ; it was no 
pageant. No trumpets were blown to announce the 
coming of this small detachment of the army gen- 
eral. Probably not a soul in the city noticed the 
passage of this poor family, save myself. Yet in it 
w^as wrapped up the great American fact of the pres- 
ent day — the coming in of European immigrants to 
take possession of our Western plains. If these 
States did not have lands for sale at low prices, to 
attract the desires of the poor and the oppressed in 
all the earth, they would be of little importance 



206 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

among the nations. For centuries the Swiss have 
had liberty, but no land ; and have been a nullity. 
But we hold a homestead for every jDOor man in 
Europe ; and, therefore, gathering his pennies to- 
gether, he is setting out for America, as the world's 
land of promise, and the only Eden now extant. 

The father strode down the middle of the street. 
Unaccustomed to the convenience of side^^alks in his 
own country, he shared the Avay with the beasts of 
burden, no less heavily laden tliau they. His back 
bent beneath its pack. In it was, probably, the bet- 
ter part of his goods and chattels — at least the mate- 
rials for a night bivouac by the roadside. By one 
hand he held his pack, and in the other he carried 
a large teakettle. His gudcAvife followed in his 
tracks, at barely speaking distance behind. A babe 
at the breast was her only burden. Both looked 
straight forward, intent only upon putting one foot 
before the other. In a direct line, but still farther 
behind, trudged on, with unequal footsteps, and eyes 
staring on either side, their firstborn son, or one who 
seemed such. There were well toward a dozen sum- 
mers glowing in his face. A big tin pail, contain- 
ing, probably, the day's provisions, and slung to his 
young shoulders, did not seem to weigh too heavily 
upon his spirit. He travelled on bravely, and was 
evidently trained to bear his load. A younger 



A WESTERN HOTEL. 207 

brother brought up, at a few paces' distance, the 
rear ; carrying, astride his neck, one more of the 
parental hopes. It was t£e most precious pack in 
the party, and, judging from the size of the little 
one's legs, not so very much the lightest. It was a 
sister, I fancy, that the little fellow was bearing olf 
so gallantly ; and very comfortably did she appear to 
be making the journey. 

I watched this single file of marchers Westward 
until they disappeared at the end of the avenue. 
They would not stop, or turn aside, save for needful 
food and shelter, imtil they had crossed the Missouri. 
On the rolling prairies beyond, the foot-worn travel- 
lers would reach their journey's end, and, throwing 
their weary limbs upon the flowery grass, would rest 
in their new home, roofed by the sky of Kansas. 
Before the frosts of autumn should set in, the log 
hut Avould be reared, and their small household gods 
set up in it. In due season the sod would be turned, 
the seed cast in, and, later, the harvest would make 
glad all hearts. Years rolling by, the boys will grow 
up freemen, and will make the surrounding acres 
tributary in wheat and corn, as far as the eye can 
reach. Forgetting their uncouth ^^aifoes, the children 
will learn the softer Anglo-Saxon accents of liberty, 
and take their place among their equal fellows in a 
society where none are bondsmen. The daughters, 



208 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICi^. 

relieved of the hard necessity of toiling in the fields, 
will gradually grow up in the delicacy of native 
American beauty, retaining only the blue eyes and 
golden hair of their German nativity. In the even- 
ing of their days, the brave grandparents will sit in 
the shadow of vines sprung from seeds piously 
brought by them from the N"eckar or the Rhine ; 
and their sons, and their sons' sons, in the enjoyment 
of plenty, happiness, and human rights, will remem- 
ber, Avith blessmgs, the original immigrants, and 
founders of their name. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

From Neio Orleans to Havana. 

ON returning to New Orleans, I learned that an 
unusually large number of persons were to 
sail by the next steamer for Havana, and that all the 
staterooms had been engaged. What was to be 
done ? — for go I must. The ship's agent could only 
suggest that I should go on board, and make applica- 
tion for accommodations to the purser, relying upon 
the rule of the shiji, First come, first served. Ac- 
cordingly, to the purser I immediately went. He — a 
half Sjianiard, as I guessed — entered my name as the 
first applicant for accommodations next in order 
after the staterooms ; whereupon I dej)arted in 
peace. 

" Queda listed con Hios,^'' said I. 

" Vaya listed con Hios^'' said lie. 

Not until after the steamer was well under way 



210 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

did I give the purser any more trouble. Then I 
civilly asked for a room. 

" The ladies," he replied, " must he accommo- 
dated first. I will give your wife a berth in a room 
with two other ladies ; and when the turn of the 
gentlemen comes, I will see what I can do for you." 

The turn of the gentlemen came in the course of 
the evening ; and what did I get ? A berth ? Not 
at all. A sofa ? Not even that. They had all been 
previously given out — to the last comers. 

" Can you tell me, then, Mr. Purser, what I, the 
first comer, ara to do ? " 

" You can go to the steward, sir, who will give 
you a mattress, pillow, and blanket, which you can 
'locate' at pleasure in any part of the ship not other- 
wise occupied." 

Now this was not jileasant ; more particularly so, 
considering that I had received from the ship's agent 
a passage ticket purporting, in consideration of 
money duly paid, to give me room, berth, and con- 
veyance from the port of New Orleans to that of 
Havana. Moreover, I had strictly observed the rule 
laid doAvn by said agent, to make early application 
for accommodations to the purser on board. In 
view of these facts, therefore, I resolved that I 
Avould have something more satisfactory from the 
official, or — sink the ship. 



FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. 211 

My first broadside took effect. The pui-ser at 
once opened his eyes to see what manner of man I 
was — a comjjliment not before paid me — and, having 
apparently satisfied his curiosity, he straightway re- 
ferred to his book, wherein it appeared that sofa N"o. 
3, in the ladies' cabin, still remained unoccupied. 
This he gave me ; adding, with civil words, that I 
would be far more comfortable on that sofa than the 
unhappy individuals who had been crowded, three 
deep, into staterooms. 

What the purser said proved to be true. At 
least, I was far more comfortable during the three 
nights of the voyage than were many of the passen- 
gers in my immediate vicinity. These lay about the 
cabin in all possible places. Some lay on the tables, 
and some under them. Some slept on trunks, and 
others on the floor. My next neighbor, whose thin 
mattress had been stretched upon a couple of large 
Yankee trunts, bristling all over with tall brass 
knobs, passed the night in torment ; because, as he 
said, the knobs pierced completely through the mat- 
tress, and some distance into him. I believed it, for 
his breathing Avas that of a man in an agony. From 
time to time, in the night, uneasy sleepers might be 
seen taking up their beds, and walking to difterent 
parts of the cabin, with a view to bettering their 
condition. One pooi' gentleman, whose bed, for lack 



212 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

of mattress, consisted of seven small pillows, trans- 
ported them from place to place, tied up in his blan- 
ket ; but, arrange them in whatever part of the ship 
he might, the pillows would get out of position in 
his sleep, and let him down on the floor. One night, 
Avhen, after unusual pains, he had succeeded, past 
midnight, in making himself comfortable over a 
hatchway, judge of his consternation on being sha- 
ken out of the first profound sleep it liad been his 
happiness to enjoy on shipboard — say, rather, his 
indignation on being rudely shaken by the shoulders, 
and requested to get up, becaiise, forsooth, the hold 
below was occupied by a waiter, whom, at the hour 
•of four in the morning, it was necessary to let out 
of his prison, tliat he might begin his day's woi'k in 
good season. 

" Hope I don't disturb yoii, sir ? " said Patrick to 
the gentleman, as the former climbed up out of his 
sub-deck resting place ; and adding politely, if famil- 
iarly : 

" When you is among the Romans, you know, 
you must do as the Romans does." 

The sofa next to mine was, early one evening, 
taken possession of by a traveller recently returned 
from California, who, at bedtime, refused to yield it 
to the rightful occupant. In vahi did the latter show 
his ticket ; the former declared that he had paid for 



FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. 213 

his passage, and had good right to sit or lie wherever 
or whenever he pleased ; and, what Avas more, he 
refused to be searched on the high seas for the pur- 
pose of liaving this claim verified. He would go to 
the bottom first. Thereupon, the inoflensive and 
rather timid passenger, having scrutinized the coun- 
tenance of the Californian, and finding it exceed- 
ingly hirsute, and the nose broken — a sort of half- 
Socrates, half-alligator physiognomy — sorrowfully 
went his way, and left his formidable enemy in pos- 
session. He did well ; for, in the course of the day 
preceding, the face of this " ugly customer " hap- 
pening to pass before my eyes, I had, on the instant, 
made the observation that this traveller had, beyond 
a doubt, osseous deposits under the dura mater. It 
was a case of chronic suifering from the violence of 
an migovernable temper. 

The man who waited on me at table, by the way, 
had a similar ossification, which engendered such a 
degree of ill nature as would have completely unfit- 
ted him for his station, had not his temper been hap- 
pily modified by an original vein of good humor. 
As an example of it : one day, the gentleman who 
sat at the head of the table, a large, j)ompous citizen 
from Arkansas, calling to the waiter in an unneces- 
sarily loud voice for a piece of pie, the latter, on 
handing it to him, said, in a strong, Hibernian 
accent, and tone scarcely less sonorous : 



214 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

" Pumpkin pie, sir, by G-d ! " 

I managed to sleep very comfortably on my sofa ; 
but, having no room, how was I to make my toilet ? 
On going to the barber's for that purpose, I found 
the door locked ; and the barber, in reply to ray 
knocking, cried out that I could not come in, for he 
" was going to wash himself." However, I suc- 
ceeded, every morning, in finding a place for ablu- 
tion ; until, at last, I fell in with a couple of gen- 
tlemen, friends of the purser, who were in jjos- 
session of two staterooms, one of which they used 
for making their toilets in, and where they were 
so polite as to allow me to make mine. But, well 
as they were accommodated, one of their berths 
was so short that the occupant had to lie Avith his 
legs either tied u]) in a knot, or extended out of 
the porthole. In fact, nobody on board had com- 
fortable quarters, except the officers of the ship, 
who seemed to regard their passengers somewhat in 
the light of so many cattle behig transported to mar- 
ket. As for the captain, his whole duty appeared to 
consist, as far as I could observe, in 2:)utting on a 
clean shirt every morning, and carefully refraining 
from saying anything to anybody. At any rate, the 
only time I heard him make a remark, Avas on one 
occasion, when civilly asked by an innocent youth, 
evidently travelling for the sake of storing his mind 



FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. 215 

with useful information, what the distance was from 
New Orleans to Havana, he unfeelingly replied : 

" As near as can well be calculated, it is a dis- 
tance of forty-eight cigars and twelve brandy cock- 
tails." 

True, the appearance of the crowd at table might 
have suggested the idea that the steamer was a 
second Noah's ark, full of animals ; for there was 
much fast eatuig on board. Every one had to be in 
his place the moment the gong sounded, and expe- 
ditiously perform the duty of mastication after get- 
tmg there ; otherwise he would find himself put, to 
all intents and purposes, on short allowance. When, 
on the first day, attempting to dine methodically, I 
arrived in due course at the roast beef, the waiter 
informed me that — to use his own phrase — it was all 
" paid out." Tenderloin steaks there certainly were 
to the last in the shij^'s larder ; for I saw the steward 
and captain's boy eating them at breakfast the morn- 
ing before our arrival. Somebody, also — probably 
the purser — must have had fresh eggs, as I heard the 
hens cackling. But one of my neighbors declared 
to me, after the very first dinner, that he could eat 
no more pie ; for, on cutting one, he had found a 
large stick of sugar candy in it, and feared to try 
another, lest it should be made of candle ends. N"or 
was it safe, in drinking, to go much beyond the ice 



216 TO DIXIE AXB THE TROPICS. 

water — which, I am liappy to say, was both good 
and abundant. But the claret tasted as though it 
had been sweetened with sugar of lead, 'to prevent 
the acetous fermentation ; and I heard the ship's 
doctor begging brandy of a passenger for his pa- 
tients, on the ground that that in the storeroom was 
made of Wilmington whiskey. 

But if there was some hurry and confusion in the 
forward cabin at mealtime, there were sufficiently 
odd things takiiog place in the ladies' cabin at all 
times. At the commencement of the voyage, I 
heard gentlemen politely requesting ladies to give up 
staterooms, to which the latter had no good claim 
beyond that of present possession. One woman, not 
fancying the upper berth which had fallen to her lot, 
inasmuch as it would require an inconvenient amount 
of climbing to get into it, quietly removed the par- 
cels from the middle one, where they had been de- 
posited by the rightful occupant, and filled it, in- 
stead, with her own person. "SVlien remonstrated 
with for such an uncivil proceeding, she very coolly 
gave for answer : 

" But I am just retm'ned from California ! " 
An imanswerable argimient. And, moreover, as 
possession is always nine tenths of the law, so it cer- 
tainly is quite equal to the entire right to a bed. It 
would have required half tlie force of the ship's 



FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. 217 

crew, doubtless, to get that Californian out of the 
berth of her own choosing ; and so, not to make too 
deplorable a scene, she was allowed to have her own 
way in it. Furthermore, there was a dashing South- 
western lady on board, who could spit as far as a 
man. And there was another, so addicted to " dip- 
ping" — that is to say, dipping the Althea root in snuff", 
and then brushing the teeth with it — that her hus- 
band was said to have offered her a thousand dollars 
to relmquish the practice. She had done so for six 
weeks, but then resumed it. I saw raisins and 
almonds carried away from table in moire antique 
pockets, and pecan nuts picked to pieces on deck by 
lingers jewelled heavily. All the Spaniards on board 
were, if the steward was to be believed, half ne- 
groes, whom he would gladly have put at a separate 
table. There certainly was no lack of traders of the 
Jewish persuasion ; nor of travelling bagmen, who 
concealed their bags in their trunks and valises. 
Moses, from the New York Bowery, dressed in gen- 
teel broadcloth, a heavy gold chain dangling from 
his fob, and a diamond twinkling in his shirt bosom, 
walked the deck with the air of a gallant out on 
adventures, and smoked his cigars with heels as high 
in the air as any Christian. 

Of course, there were a number of well-bred and 

well-behaved ladies and gentlemen in this ci'owd 
10 



218 ^'^ DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

of passengers ; though, as everybody knows, it is 
a severe test of good manners in both man and 
woman to make a voyage at sea. And this one, cei*- 
tainly, did not fail to furnish iUustrations of the 
truth, that, sometimes, persons who are accustomed 
to move m the fashionable circles of society will, 
when removed out of them, both do and say things 
not quite becoming their station. Then, again, it is 
plainly true, whether on land or water, that if aspi- 
rants for social position Avould only take as much 
pains really to be ladies and gentlemen as they do to 
seem such, they Avould accomplish their purpose with 
half the trouble. 



CHAPTER XX. 
A Havana Hotel. 

ri^HREE clays of sailing brought me to the ever- 
-1- fixithful island so coveted by our filibusters ; 
and, passing the Moro at sunrise, I entered the beau- 
tiful harbor of Havana. As the sun came up over 
the low hills, covered with forts, or tufted with 
palnis and orange trees, it thrcAV a vai'iegated light 
over the wide expanse of water, staining it like some 
great cathedral window. And on this gorgeous mir- 
ror lay a multitude of ships of all nations — hulks, 
spars, and rigging, to the vci-y ensigns, all reflected 
below. There were among them ships of war, three- 
deckers, and frigates ; also the clipper ships of the 
Yankees, and the heavy hulls of Old Spain ; lateen 
sail boats, likewise, and the official wherries of the 
custom house : these latter gracefully moving to the 
stroke of their ten oars, having a little man in a 
brass hatband sitting under an awning, and tlie red 



220 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and yellow of the royal colors languidly drooping 
over the stern. 

The officer of a Spanish port always proceeds to 
the discharge of his duties with a considerable de- 
gree of deliberation ; and so it happened that my 
first experience of Cuban travel began with an hour 
or two's waiting. During this time, the ship be- 
came gradually surrounded by a fleet of small boats, 
all ofiering their services to the stranger for the pur- 
pose of conveying him and his luggage to the shore ; 
but all waiting, also, Avith as much patience as if that 
were their normal condition. At last, however, came 
the little great man, with his badges of office, and 
gave permission to the impatient crowd not only to 
go on shore, but to do so without any of the formali- 
ties insisted on in the mother country, vmless it were 
that of paying the boatmen double the rates which 
by law they were entitled to. A fee of a couple of 
dollars carried me comfortably through the custom 
house ; and then a commissioner, a porter, and a cart 
took myself and effects to my first Havanese hotel. 

The old established American houses being full 
of guests, we were obliged to go to one less known 
to fame. Even here the landlady received us with 
the declaration that she had not a vacant room in the 
house, having just given up to four gentlemen the 
chamber of her duenna ; but she would see, after 



A HAVANA HOTEL. 221 

breakfast, what she could do for us. So we waited 
another couple of hours. By that time the landlady 
had concocted the proposition that la Sefiora should 
occupy a room in common with two or three other 
ladies ; and el Seiior should be quartered in the best 
corner of the drawing room there was left. This, 
however, was not promising much for him, inasmuch 
as the more retired and eligible half of the room Avas 
already occupied, and partitioned off by a curtain. 
As Ave demurred at any such arrangement, Ave were 
again requested to Avait until it could be seen what 
might be done. We accordingly Avaited. But, at 
the end of an hour more, our patience Avas rcAvarded 
by the gift of the best room in the house. 

It was a spacious chamber, with Avails from 
tAventy to thirty feet in height, papered, and much 
gilded. The floor was laid in marble. The large 
double doors, three in nvnnber, Avere glazed, and 
served as windows ; there being no other opening 
excepting one small one situated ten or fifteen feet 
above the floor. Of furniture there Avas only too 
great a supply for comfort ; inasmuch as, being the 
property of the previous occupant, it Avas every day 
taken away, piece by piece, by a servant Avho came 
at all hours for that purpose. Wardrobes in rose- 
Avood, tlTe elegant escritoire, tables inlaid Avith pearl, 
gilded chairs, Spanish pictures hanging on the Avails, 



222 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and a great variety of smaller articles, all gradually 
disappeared and wasted away. In the end, very 
little was left, save one of the three rocking chairs, 
a cane sofa, and a bed without a mattress, but spread 
with white linen edged with lace, and covered with 
a mosqxiito net delicate as woven mist, and looped up 
with blue satin ribbons. The bed had the advantage 
of being suited to the climate ; but its sacking, hav- 
ing been overstretched by the avoirdupois of the pre- 
vious occupant — a Spanish lady past the age of forty 
— had finally assumed the form of a hammock. 

But, floor and furniture being covered with dust, 
our first endeavors were directed toward prevailing 
on the landlady to send lis a servant equipped for 
sweeping. It was long before one came, and he 
turned out to be a mozo ; for the boys are chamber- 
maids in this country. At length, the dust remoA^ed, 
we desired to have the necessary materials for Avash- 
ing brought. These came in slow succession, one by 
one ; first the pitchers of water ; after a quarter of 
an hour, the basins ; after another quarter, the tow- 
els. Last of all appeared the slop pail ; it being, 
apparently, an article hard to be found in the liouse, 
and was, in fact, no more than a large tin pan, which 
evidently had seen service in the kitclien. 

Tlicn, finally, Ave unlocked our trunks ; buX, alack ! 
the glass doors opening into the drawing room Avcro 



A HAVANA HOTEL. 223 

too imperfectly glazed to furnish the degree of pri- 
vacy desirable in a dressing room. A too inquisitive 
eye might easily look through them. So another 
consultation Avas held with the landlady respectmg 
the possibility of curtains. At first she gazed at us 
with a face of amazement, saying the room had 
always been occupied by Spanish ladies just as it 
was ; but, finally, granted for screen an extra towel. 
Thereupon we dressed for dinner ; for it was time to 
do so. 

After a voyage by sea, we wished, of course, to 
have the services of a laundress. But nobody in the 
house, from mistress to maid, could tell us how they 
were to be obtained. The former declared that 
ladies were in the habit of sending their linen by 
steamer to Charleston to be washed ! It could, in- 
deed, be sent out of the city ; but it would never be 
brought back again — unless you went for it yourself 
in a volante. This was sufficiently discouraging ; 
though not enough so to make one lose all confidence 
in his own \vits. 

Accordingly, I determined on sallying out of the 
house in search of a laundress ; and, after much 
inquiry, found an excellent one in Lucy, a black 
woman living in the Galle Lamparilla., who not only 
washes linen very well, and for reasonable compensa- 
tion, but is herself a dowager, valued at some twenty 



224 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

or thirty thousand dollars, more or less, besides being 
lai-gely endowed with the gift of the gab. In order 
to persuade so independent a washerwoman to lend 
me her services, I had, of course, to begin with 
praising everything in Havana. And I began with 
the i^lantains. 

" Gracious goodness ! " broke in Lucy, " noth- 
ing so good in dis world as plantains. Fry 'em 
Avhen dey full ripy. Must have fresh pork fat, 
Senor. Oh, la ! I tell you dey too good for nig- 
gers ! — ^ha ! ha ! ha ! " 

In a hotel, an inefficient office makes an insubor- 
dinate kitchen. So, in ours, the servants were all the 
time at sixes and sevens ; and there existed a chronic 
row in the household. At best, having their heads 
turned by the excessive number of guests, the ser- 
vants could scarcely put two ideas together — not 
even such simple ones as those of coffee and sugar. 
Still, the meals provided A\'ere more palatable than 
could have been expected imder the circumstances. 
The bread, as everywhere in Cuba, was excellent. 
Good oil was better than bad butter would have 
been ; and on fried rice and plantains anybody ought 
to be able to make a pleasant breakfast. A shadow 
of doubt, it must be allowed, sometimes i-ested on 
the freshness of tlie eggs ; as when, one morning, 
the waiter, instead of executing his order, came back 



A HAVANA HOl'EL. 225 

with the signiticant declai-ation, " The eggs won't 
poach to-day, Seuor ! " There Avas a liberal supply 
of Catalonian wine ; though this, to be sure, did not 
sometimes make its appearance on the table until 
after everybody had drunk himself full of water. 
And, finally, the parlor had to serve for dining hall 
as well as bedroom. The guests were mostly Yan- 
kees ; and among them, as it happened, were half a 
dozen newly married couples, who had come to the 
island for the jiurpose of enjoying their honeymoon. 
But a row of more disconsolate brides, as they sat at 
table the day after ray arrival, I had never seen be- 
fore. They appeared at breakfiist Avith from ten 
to twenty flea or mosquito bites on necks, arms, 
and faces ; and every one of them looking as 
though she might have spent the Avhole night in 
a fight with these small diablos. No doubt they 
had so passed the time, excepting the hour or two 
occupied in rubbing the Cuban starch out of their 
night dresses. Those of them Avho had rooms on 
the street, complained that they could not sleep, 
if for no other reason, on account of the noise made 
by the Avatchmen, who all night long kept crying the 
hours, doAvn to the very halves and quarters. And 
in the early morning the cries of these Avorthy guar- 
dians of repose were succeeded by the crowing of 

cocks, the barking of dogs, the creaking of carts, 
10* 



226 'J'O DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and the chattering of a population Avhich gets out of 
bed before sunrise. Much as ever did these exjoect- 
ants of matrimonial bliss escape the necessity of 
making their own beds, and of dusting their cham- 
bers. Nor, if they transgressed Cuban etiquette 
so far as to appear in the streets on foot, did they 
fail to be most unmercifully stared at. In fact, so 
many batteries of black eyes were unmasked upon 
them wherever tliey showed themselves in public, 
that they came home pretty well disconcerted, and 
were even afraid, considering the number of S2:>anish 
gentlemen who sat smoking in the draAving room, to 
stay in the house Avithout their Imsbands. I heard 
of India shawls being promised some of them, on 
their return to the States, if they would not be home- 
sick. And in one case, Avhere such promises of 
future bliss did not suffice to dissipate present gloom 
and terror, money Avas put in the fair one's pockets, 
and she Avas sent off to buy Spanish fans and laces. 
This expedient probably brought relief. 

While I think of it — there Avas anotlier couple 
of American ladies in Havana at the time of my 
visit, AA^io Avere promised by their liusbands each a 
half dozen pineapple dresses, on condition that they 
Avould spend six Aveeks on the island Avithout jjout- 
ing. So, drying their eyes, they determined to hunt 
the tOAvn for these precious fabrics. They had been 



A HAVANA HOTEL. 227 

told — probably by some gentleman Avho was a bit of 
a wag — that the best pineapples were to be had at 
Sagrado's. And for Sagrado's they accordingly 
set off. 

ISTow Don Juan de Dios de Escalera de Sagrado 
"was one of the principal bankers of the town, be- 
sides being a bachelor of long standing. So, when 
the two fine ladies from the States, attended by their 
flunky to act as interpreter, on being shown into the 
presence of this well-known financier and old Chris- 
tian — cristiano viejo — asked to see his pineapples, he 
rei)lied, opening his eyes a little Avider than usual, 
that he had no pineapples. 

" Oh, yes ! " rejoined they ; " you surely have 
pineapples ! We were told you had the very best in 
town." 

By this time the banker began to feel a little 
vexed inwardly, as well as perplexed to imagine 
what could have brought a couple of fashionable 
ladies to his bureau on such an errand, at the late 
hour of five o'clock, Avhen he was just on the point 
of going to eat his dinner. Therefore, adopting as 
decided a tone of voice as his politeness would admit 
of, he said to them : 

" Ladies, you are mistaken in the man." 

This very explicit declaration brought the two 
visitors to their senses. Looking; each other in the 



228 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

face, and suspecting that something was wrong 
somewhere, they now tm-ned to the banker with the 
half assertion, half apology : 

" Then it must be some other Sagrado. Please 
inform us where Ave can find the shop of the Sagrado 
who sells pineapples." 

" I beg pardon. No man of my name has ever 
sold pineapples in Havana ! " firmly retorted the 
Don, in an agony of rage, which it took all his high- 
bred gallantry to suppress. 

And, with these words, he gravely bowed the 
fair intruders out of his bureau — who, for their part, 
felt, on reaching the bottom of the stairway, as if 
they had been let down from a considerable eleva- 
tion. 

Having seen about enough of life in this Havan- 
ese hotel, I was just on the point of making up my 
mind to move to a house out of town, when the land- 
lord very opportimely raised the rent on me. As I 
appeared to be enjoying myself exceedingly, extract- 
ing almost as much satisfaction out of everything 
that went wi'ong as out of everything that went 
right, he probably thought that I was ancliored in 
his bedroom for the remainder of the season, and 
suddenly ran the price of my lodgings up to ten dol- 
lars per day. The excuse alleged for this impropri- 
ety was, that the room was big enoiigli to hold four 



A HAVANA HOTEL. 229 

l^ersons comfortably. And, moreover, it was de- 
clared that such four persons were impatiently w^ait- 
ing to take possession. Mythic personages, I had 
not a doubt. However, I did not stop to debate the 
question with him, but told him, at once, that the 
room was entirely at his disposition — a la disposicion 
de listed. There was a heavy and sudden fall in the 
landlord's covmtenance when I informed him that I 
should no longer consider his house as my own. 
But I was inexorable ; for who likes to have the rent 
raised over him ? Yet I rather suggested than ex- 
pressed my congratulations that he should have such 
a convenient number of candidates in readiness for 
the premises to be vacated ; and also sincerely wished 
in my heart that these four persons, being Christians, 
might not all be compelled to sleep in that single 
bed ; still less that any of them should be lodged on 
the cane sofa, inasmuch as, it having no curtains, 
they would certainly be devoured by the mosquitos. 
But I will do the room the justice to say, that, as 
there were no mats nor rugs on tlie marble floor, so 
there were no fleas under themt Not even in the 
bed were there any fleas ; so that we wei-e not 
obliged, as in Old Spain, to spend half the night, 
taper in hand, diligently searching for these animal- 
cules ; nor did we therefore sufler the least incon- 
venience from having forgotten to take with us to 



230 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the ever-faithful isle what little remained of our 
Italian flea-powder. 

The next tiling to be done, then, was to get out 
of the house. But to leave a Cuban hotel against 
the wishes of the landlord, is like Aveighing an 
anchor which has sunk several fathoms deep into the 
mud. In this instance, Boniface, after due reflec- 
tion, found himself utterly unable to inform me of 
any method whereby I could leave his house in sea- 
son to go, next day, to Matanzas. In the art of 
speeding the parting guest he seemed a perfect 
dunce. He did not know whether a porter could be 
engaged at so late an hour of the evening, it being 
then seven o'clock ; but he would ask the chief boy, 
or mozo. Going out, accordingly, he soon brought 
in the mozo, Avho, after sitting — or rather standing — 
upon the question, submitted to him with the gravity 
of a most learned judge, finally came to the conclu- 
sion that he did not know whether, at so late an 
hour of the evening, a porter could be engaged, or 
}iot. The porters generally left town for the coun- 
try at sundown. Moreover, the landlord was not 
sure that a volantc, though jiaid over night tlie price 
of two dollars and twelve cents for taking me, with- 
out baggage, to the railway station the next morn- 
ing, could be relied upon for keeping his ajipoint- 
ment. The inozo suggested that, considering that 



A HAVANA HOTEL. 231 

the train Avas to leave at half past five o'clock, tlie 
volante might, very likely, be a few minutes too late. 
Nor, finally, could either master or man say that, in 
their opinion, it would be entirely safe to send the 
trunks ofl:' at so early an hour. They miglit be sto- 
len on the way. Indeed, the mozo seemed to think 
the chances were about three to one that they would 
be stolen, unless he himself followed the f)orter. 

Here, then, Avas a small Gordian knot ; but one 
very easily cut by my dismissing both of my ad- 
visers, and coming to the conclusion to take lodgings 
for a few days in the pretty suburb of the Cerro. 
Thence, it was to be hoped, the departure for Matan- 
zas mijjfht be more feasible. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

My First Volante. 

lUT I did not leave the city for the suburbs 
before having seen and enjoyed it. And 
among the things first to be enjoyed in Havana is, 
of course, the vohxnte. The drive I took on the day 
of my arrival being not for pleasure, but for busi- 
ness, was, indeed, without ceremony, or such parade 
as one delights in on tlie Havanese ^Ktseos. On this 
occasion I contented myself with ordering the mozo 
to get a carriage from the public square, telling him 
to take the first and best one he should find. 

" How much is it the pleasure of tlie Senor to 
give for the hour ? " inquired the boy, pahnleaf in 
hand. 

" What is the legal fee ? " I asked, in reply. 

" Fifty cents, Senor ; but they ask more." 

" Very well ; I will give a dollar." 

The boy went away, and, returning, said there 



3IY FIRST VOLANTE. 233 

was a negro in boots at the door ; but he would not 
go for a dollar. Thereupon word was sent to him 
that he might dejaart in joeace — que el vaya con 
Dios ; and the boy was directed to hnd another 
charioteer, who Avould be contented with double the 
fee allowed by law. 

This time he came back bringing with him a 
most sorry-looking black boy in slipi^ers. His vo- 
lante would answer the purjDose ; and so would his 
horse, albeit the animal's tail was braided, and tied 
up over his back to the saddle ; but the fellow's coat 
was rather the Avorse for wear, and was neither yel- 
low nor scarlet, but of a dull middle tint, produced 
by long exposure to the rays of the sun ; and his 
feet were in slippers, without stockings. I observed, 
however, that he possessed a pair of well-developed 
heels, stoutly shod with spurs, besides having a 
tough thong in his hand capable of doing good ser- 
vice. And so, without stopping to reflect ujDon the 
consequences, I pleased myself with the idea of 
making a dash through the town in the vehicle of 
this comically accoutred Jehu. 

This I accordmgly did. The fellow drove pell- 
mell through the narrow streets, runnmg, at the very 
first corner, into an ox cart. But this gave an oppor- 
tunity for observing the fine bullocks which were 
harnessed by the head to the tongue of the vehicle, 



234 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

having broadly brandling horns, large, dark eyes, 
and the beautiful dun color of the oxen of Italy. 
Getting extricated from the cart, my driver cracked 
his whip smartly around the haunches of his tough 
little steed ; and, at the same time, made his bow to 
a big negress that went by, holding her petticoat up, 
and i^uffing away at an enormous cigar, which she 
grasped betAveen her ivory as she grinned. But if 
my man tore through the streets and lanes at the top 
of his bent, he had, nevertheless, to turn the corners 
gently, inasmuch as both horse and rider Avere sev- 
eral yards in advance of the carriage. Once on the 
way, the fellow Avas so unlucky as to overtake a 
funeral j^i'ocession ; and, his horse being at the time 
pretty Avell blown, he seemed to be A'ery Avilling to 
accept the excuse for bringing doAv^n the animal's 
speed to a walk ; and so, for a short distance, we fell 
into line, as if we were the hindmost weepers, and 
constituted the A'ery cue of the mourning. 

On this drive, my attention happening to be par- 
ticularly attracted to the colored part of the popula- 
tion, I observed that they were decidedly superior in 
physical stntcture to the blacks of our Southei'u 
States. I saAv many tall men and strapping nc- 
gresses. Several of the latter had their arms set 
off with bracelets Avashed in gold, and their fingers 
Avith enormous rings of similar material. Otliers 



MY FIRST VOLANTE. 235 

wore shoAvy coral earrings, besides stones more or 
less precious ; while nearly all were elaborately 
tatooed d la mode Africaine. In addition to this 
finery, the head was generally wouiid about with 
gaudy handkerchiefs ; but they sported no crinoline 
of any kind beyond a single loose goAvn. A cigai', 
however, long drawn and portly, graced the lips of 
the principal wenches, Avho knew how to carry it 
cocked up as jauntily as any liidalgo, and were also 
expert in the art of holding it between their teeth 
through all then* chattering, grinning, and even ha- 
ha-ing. Several neatly dressed and respectable-look- 
ing dames of color, being apparently of the higher 
class of house servants, I met airing themselves m 
volantes, and looking down upon the world in the 
streets fi-om a point of elevation not a whit lower 
than was my own. Indeed, if there be any truth in 
Don Jose Francisco y Rodriguez, Oticial de la Real 
Hacienda, these slaves were as well coached as the 
most powerful potentate could be. " Pues," says 
this Havanese Ford, in his learned guide book, 
" puesto uno de estos carruages en el paseo, on nada 
se diferencia del mas fuerte potentado, tanto in librea 
corao on adornos ; y lo que es mas, lo modico de sxis 
precios." * One or two colored gentlemen, also, I 

* Translation : " Since, in one of tliese carriages on the paseo, 
one does not differ from tlie most powerful potentate, whether in 
livery or trappings ; and, what is more, the price is moderate." 



236 I'O DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

passed in the course of my drive, dressed so com- 
pletely according to the latest fashions, and demean- 
ing themselves with such perfect propriety, that I 
was at no loss to recognize in them the free negro, 
and possessor of a handsotue little forttme. 

In good time, my postilion, sans toggery, brought 
me safely back to the hotel. I was thankful for it — 
imusually so — because, in twice crossing a railroad, 
the thought occurred to me that, the shafts of the 
carriage being of such a ridiculous length, the train 
might smash me long after my man and horse had 
got over the track, and were entirely out of danger. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Dolce Far JSfiente. 

THERE is a pecidiar, indescribable charm in life 
on this island. The air possesses an extraordi- 
nary degree of vitality, which invigorates the human 
system, and makes all the wheels of life move with 
less friction, and more regularity. Though a warm 
climate, one feels braced by it. Happy, he knows 
scarcely why, the stranger finds that he requires but 
few resources for his entertainment. To sit in the 
shade of the palm trees, to lean over a balcony 
which faces the street, to recline in an easy chair in 
rooms with floors of marble, high ceilings, and doors 
and windows standing wide open, is as pleasant 
amuseiuent as one need wish for. It is as good as a 
play in other countries, to look down into any Cuban 
courtyard, where the business of a great household 
is being conducted ; as, for example, into that of my 
Havana hotel, in one corner of which a small wine- 



238 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

merchant stored his bottles and boxes ; while on a 
table, in another, half a dozen cross-legged tailors 
plied their needles in mending old clothes. Tlie 
sti'eets of the town aboimd in odd, comical sights ; 
and the quays are an ever-interesting spectacle, 
where one witnesses the lading and the imladiug of 
the ships of all nations. All men so enjoy life in 
this tropical city, that they rise early in the morning, 
and go to their work, or their j)leasure, in the cool 
of the day. For every early morning, when the air 
is fresh and exhilarating, is like a small c\\]) of tlie 
elixir of life. The evenings, likewise, are serene, 
effulgent with stars, or full of moonlight. Indeed, 
in this Eden, as in that one originally prepared for 
the enjoyment of man, it is the evening and the 
morning which make the day. At noon, when the 
sun has half done his task, there is a short pause in 
tlie life both of man and beast. Business rests for 
an hour after its fatigue ; pleasure takes its siesta ; 
and the hum of the great, noisy city is scarcely audi- 
ble. But the brief noontide past, all is astir again 
until the time of the going down of the sun. The 
dinner is by no means a great event in the Spaniard's 
day ; it being a frugal repast, made cheerful by only 
a slight draught of wine. The stranger is not asked 
to share the simple meal ; but is entertained, if at 
aU, witli a cigar, or a cup of cliocolate, or even a 



DOLCE FAR NIENTE. 239 

glass of orange water. At evening, however, the 
Habaiiero is capable of jDcrforming many kmd offices 
for you ; such as sending his volante for you to take 
a drive on the paseo / bidding you to the tertuUa ; 
offering you a seat in his box at the opera ; accom- 
panying you to the plaza to hear the music, to Do- 
menica's to eat ices, and to the Captain-Genei'al's 
when the latter gives a ball or fandango. So easy is 
it to entertain and be entertained in tliis Gan Eden. 

But, strange ^s it may seem, it is no easy matter 
for most Yankees who visit the island to fall into 
this simple, natural way of living. Immediately 
after my arrival, the observation was forced on me, 
that the greater part of the Americans staying at the 
hotels were busy in inquiring how they should be 
able to get away from the country which they had 
come to visit. It was truly a hard lesson for them 
to learn the dolce far niente. Having hastily seen 
everything in Havana that could be seen hastily, 
they, at the end of two or tln-ee days, knew not 
what to do with themselves, unless it were to watch 
the coming and going of the American steamers, to 
go hither and thither in search of American news- 
papers, to talk over and over again among themselves 
the story of their voyage to the island, to discuss the 
question of routes, the hours of the trains on the 
railroad, and the days of departure of the coast- 



240 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

going steamers. They smoked their cigars Avith a 
certain degree of impatience, and were too soon at 
the end of them. They were in jjerpetual motion, 
driving, walking, boating ; and found their seats 
uneasy, even though they were placed beneath palm 
trees and the stars of the tropics. 

A portion of this restlessness was owing, no 
doubt, to the very poor accommodations afforded by 
the public inns, at that season overrun with guests. 
To this cause, especially, was to be attributed the 
discontent of the fair sex ; for the landladies unfeel- 
ingly separated those whom God had joined together, 
not even pajdng the slightest regard to the circum- 
stance that some of them Avere newly married. 
Hence it happened that most of the American visit- 
ors were kept pretty busily employed during the 
A\'inter, first in finding lodgings, and afterward in 
changing them. They were to be met with eveiy 
day in hot piirsuit of cool apartments. They were 
constantly looking for clean rooms, clean beds, clean 
tablecloths — and, alas ! finding none. It was one 
perpetual round, a vicious circle, from the fryingpan 
into the fire, and back from the fire into the frying- 
pan ; their chief consolation, meanwhile, being to 
compare the different degrees of elevation at which 
they found the thermometer standing in these two 
different situations. 



DOLCE FAR NIENTE. 241 

It may, indeed, l)e a little too much to exj)ect 
that men should be perfectly happy when so unsatis- 
factorily lodged ; still, no one "svho knows anything 
about Spanish countries ever goes to them for the 
sake of the i^leasure to be derived from sleeping in 
their beds. Every traveller should make up his mind 
not to find fiiult with Spanish sacking because' it is 
not a mattress ; and, especially, never to pick quai'- 
rels with the fleas. All that he can reasonably look 
for, is a couch with a mosquito net, windows without 
glass, doors without locks or latches, water enough 
to bathe the end of the nose and the tips of the 
fingers, and a towel just big enough to wipe them 
dry. Whatever he may find over and above this, is 
so much good luck, to be accepted with thankfulness, 
and paid for with extra pesetas. In none of the 
dominions of Her Most Catholic Majesty can the 
traveller expect to find the roast beef juicy ; and he 
must visit them with his mind made up to eat torti- 
llas. Cheerfully should he accept oil for butter, and 
a stone for cheese. But, having good bread and 
chocolate, a plenty of eggs, chickens, rice, fried plan- 
tains, and sweet oranges, surely any man of a sound 
mind and stomach may be content. What is lacking 
in some of his comforts, will be more than made 
good by the air fresh from heaven which he breathes, 

by the sun shining by day and by the moon and stars 
n '^ " 



242 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

shining by night. In case of a " norther," finally, he 
can sufficiently comfort himself by simply lighting 
his cabanos. 

That clay, certainly, may well be called a happy 
one, which is brought to a close in the Plaza de 
Armas. You go there between the hours of eight 
and nine to listen to the music of the band — one of 
the largest and best in America — which plays nightly 
before the palace of the Captain-General. Dressed 
.n fine linen, you sit in perfect comfort of body in the 
open air, with nothing between you and the stars but 
palm leaves. The air is perfectly pure, saA'e that it 
may have in it the scent of flowers ; for it is in the 
midst of a garden, beautiful with tropical plants and 
shrubs, that you take yoiir seat to listen to the sweet 
music of overtures, symphonies, and waltzes. If, 
leaving your chair, you stroll through the grounds, 
the perfume changes from rose to violet, from orange 
blossoms to the sweet-scented shrub, from heliotroijcs 
to geraniums, pinks, and mignonette. The gaslights 
show the various hues of the flowers, and are re- 
flected from the polished surface of innumerable 
green leaves. Even without the gas you can mark 
the flashing of the Spanish eye as you pass along the 
ranks of the promenaders, and distinguish well 
enough the features of the fair Creoles by the light 
of their smiles. If tired of the beautiful promenade 



DOLCE FAR NIENTE. 243 

between these hedges of rose and orange, and be- 
neath the graceful palmtops which seem to reach the 
sky, you can take a volante, and, with a friend by 
your side, sit chatting in its easy seat during the in- 
tervals of music ; and when, at last, you have lis- 
tened to the strains of the final march, imtil they are 
lost in the distant streets, as the band retires to its 
barracks, you can drive to Domenica's, which is hard 
by, and taste an ice. 

Certainly, you don't mind being cheated out of 
sixpence. For the waiter, seeing, at first look, that 
you wear the American whisker under your chin, or 
have English shoes on, will Jew you to that extent ; 
and there is no help for it. But the joke of paying 
sixpence black mail to the Domenica you enjoy no 
less than the ice. It is, in fact, quite as good. And, 
generally, in Cuba, any person for whose services 
you have occasion will expect from sixpence to half 
an ounce for so much as looking at you. You can- 
not begin to turn aromid without its costing you a 
piece of money. To do it with any flourish of the 
hand, as much as to say. Here am I, a man of conse- 
quence when at home in the States, will cost you a 
gold piece. It may also be a useful piece of infor- 
mation for somebody, if I add that there is one occa- 
sion, especially, when a well-filled purse is indispen- 
sable to the stranger in Havana ; and that is, when 



244 'J^O DIXIE AND THE TIIOFICS. 

he goes shopping with his wife. She wants, of 
course, to buy a few articles — the specialites. But 
fans, my dear sir, are a hmidred dollars apiece ; that 
is to say, the best talking ones. An article less 
chatty you may get for fifty, or a very stupid one for 
twenty-five even. But a dollar fan is as dumb as a 
mute at South Boston. Pray don't think your wife 
extravagant if she want a couple dozen of these elo- 
quent, airy nothings. You know that for your own 
best eahanos you paid the enormous price of two 
liundred and eighty dollars per thousand. Did you 
not give three hundred dollars for a dozen of em- 
broidered shirts ? Surely, then, you cannot think it 
a piece of extravagance in your better and more pi"u- 
dent half to buy tablecloths at twelve dollars each, 
and towels at fifteen per dozen. The muslins, to be 
sure, are so lovely that they are cheap at any price ; 
so are the pineapples, the grenadines, and, especially, 
the laces. Guava jelly, too, is cheap and good ; and 
you cannot have too much of it. Buy fifty dollars' 
worth. 

It is, doubtless, very true that no man should 
ever count the cost of his dolce far niente. Still, let 
me tell you, that if, some fine day — which is almost 
any day in the year — you say, on removing the mos- 
quito net in the morning. This day I will order 
liorses for an excursion into the country ; I will go 



DOLCE FAR NIENTE. 245 

to Senor Don Fulano's sugar estate, and spend a 
week with him — let me tell you that it is necessary 
to put much money in your purse. You will want it 
to give to the robbers. For they Avill waylay you, 
and, in case of not finding in your pockets a number 
of gold pieces corresponding to the dignity of your 
personal appearance, they will rap you over the head 
soundly for travelling with less money than becomes 
your station. Or, being armed with pen, ink, and 
paper, as the gentlemen of the road always are in 
Cuba, they will make you draw a check for five thou- 
sand dollars — it may be ten — and lock you up in a 
cave for safe keeping until your banker shall place 
that sum at their disposal. No Creole of distinction 
ever travels about the island light-pocketed ; and, in 
case of meeting disagreeable compatriots on the 
road, he relies for safety much more on purse than 
pistols ; the latter being worn merely for show, and 
as a sign of personal consequence, although required 
by law to be of a length not shorter than fourteen 
inches. 

But, for my part, I was never robbed in Cuba, 
except in the hotels, and offices of the Government. 
In all my travels about the island, in fact, I never 
met a montero who had so much tlie look of a cut- 
pm-se as the one who was seated, one day, by my 
side at a table cVhote in Havana. He was a stalwart, 



246 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

swurthy native, Avitli mustaches as long as Louis 
Napoleon's, and spurs as long as his mustaches, but 
with a jacket cut so short as scarcely to come down 
to the small of his back. I know not by what ill 
luck I was placed next to him at table ; but, as 
misery often has strange bedfellows, so a gentleman 
at the mesa redonda in Cuba is liable to find himself 
at the side of monteros^ German Jews, and bagmen. 
Having the appetite of seven men in one, my fellow 
had no sooner taken his seat, than he had emptied 
every dish within reach ; and, while still eagerly 
occupied in gobbling them down, tapping me gently 
on the arm — for his mouth was too full for speech — 
he pointed significantly with his knife to a dish of 
very nice fried plantains, which had been placed 
before me. He wanted some of them. But no one 
waiter being adequate to the supply of all his wants, 
he made application directly to me, and, with an ex- 
pression of fiice Avhich jilainly said. That plate of 
fried plantains, or your life, Senor ! I acknowledge 
the amiable weakness of having preferred resigning 
the plantains rather than my existence, it -being at 
that time particularly sweet ; and I had, besides, an 
engas^ement for the eveninac at the Plaza. So I 
handed the dish to the barbarian, and held on to my 
lease of life. 



CHAPTER XXIII. * 

The Paseo Tacon. 

T is the aspiration of every lady in Havana to 
have her volante. And well it may be ; for the 
etiquette of the town forbids her setting foot in the 
street. She is scarcely permitted to walk even to 
church. The streets being narrow, and the side- 
walks, where there are any, having width enough 
only to allow a single person to pass, it can well be 
understood that a lady, in attempting to walk in 
such, a city, would be exposed to being jostled, or 
otherAvise incommoded. Moreover, she could not 
walk far Avithout soiling her dress in the abundant 
mud or dust. Nor could she well escape being 
stared at, and, very likely, made the subject of im- 
pertinent remark. The volante, therefore, is both 
necessity and luxury for her. She must have it in 
order to go to church, to go a-shopping, to take an 
airing, to make visits ; and, without it, is little better 



248 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

than a prisoner in her OAvn house. It costs about a 
thousand a year to keep a volante with two horses ; 
and a Spanish lady will forego almost any luxury, 
except fans, in order to liave this amount annually to 
si^end on a carriage. 

It is indispensable that the volante be drawn by 
two horses, or rather mules, at half tandem. The 
mules, also, must have their harness weU washed in 
silver ; they must have tag and tassel ; and, espe- 
cially, must have their tails braided, and tied up with 
gay cords and ribbons over their backs to the saddle. 
There must be, furthermore, a negro on the back of 
the leadmg mule ; and he must have, besides his pal- 
metto hat, a laced and braided jacket, be it green, 
yellow, scarlet, purple, or sky blue. It is proper that 
he should wear leathern breeches. Jack boots are as 
indispensable as the indisjDensables themselves ; while 
his heels must be spurred, as near as may be, like 
Don Quixote's. The volante itself ^should be more 
or less silvered over, and painted to correspond with 
the postilion's jacket. Then, when the forward 
mule has been trained to go on a canter, and the 
shaft mule on a trot, the Cuban lady has all that 
heart can wish for in the matter of a carriage. 

The Yankee in Havana, who, wishing to spread 
the feathers of his American eagle a little, orders 
such a turnout from a livery stable, will be charged 



THE FASEO TACON. 249 

half an ounce for his afternoon's airing. It is as 
necessary for him to have doubloons in his pocket 
when he drives to the paseo, as it is for Queen Isa- 
bella Avhen she goes in state through the streets of 
Madrid, scattering gold. I did this thing the first 
holiday afternoon after my arrival, driving more 
especially over the Paseo Tacon. All the world and 
his wife were there. Hundreds of volantes passed 
and repassed on a Avalk, from one end of the long 
promenade to the other ; their great number prevent- 
ing them from moving any faster. Bordered on 
either side by tall trees ever in leaf, the road runs 
between flower gardens and green fields, and com- 
mands a view of the city, the adjacent hills, and the 
sea. At the hour of sunset the j^rospect is truly 
beautiful, when the j)alms are seen on the western 
hiUs gracefully grouped together against a sky of 
gold and purple. Kecently, a few four-wheeled car- 
riages have been introduced by hidalgos anxious to 
make themselves conspicuous by innovating upon the 
customs of their country. But the volantes far out- 
numbered all other vehicles on the paseo. Most of 
them were occupied by two or three ladies, their 
crinoline being protruded as much as possible on 
either side, and giving to the carriage the appearance 
of being winged with gay plumage. It is a fashion 

which has no inconvenience in the usually still 
11* 



250 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

weather of Havana, wlien the evening breeze is 
scarcely strong enough to stir muslin ; but is suffi- 
ciently awkward in a " norther." This Avind, luckily 
an infrequent visitor, by bringing confusion into the 
ladies' dresses, and leaving the fair wearers not a 
shadow of an excuse for fanning themselves, puts an 
end at once to all pleasure-driving on the paseos. 
At all other times, the promenading lasts not only 
until the day fades out of the west, but is industri- 
ously continued by gaslight. 

When taking this drive, the ladies have nothing 
on their heads, save, perhaps, a veil, a Avreath of 
flowers, or a coronet of diamonds ; and nothing on 
their necks or arms. Xor do they conceal the beauty 
of their hands, even, and the brilliancy of their rings, 
by putting on gloves. The thinnest and tiniest of 
white satin slippers cover the feet. Two ladies occu- 
pying the same volante always select dresses which 
will make a handsome contrast of colors. If one 
skirt be pink, the other Avill be green. If one be 
straw color, the other will be lilac. The whole 
promenade glows with the high-tinted silks and mus- 
1ms. Indeed, what with the ladies' dresses and the 
postilions' jackets, the gayly painted carriages, the 
well-groomed mules and their glittering trappings, 
the scene is a shifting tapestry of all colors, gorgeous 
as the processions of princes. It is a vain show, no 



THE PASEO TACON. 251 

doubt, but one which gives supreme delight to lovers 
of pleasure who live so near the sun. The tropical 
day has no entertainment half so much prized. 
These gentlemen Avould sooner go without their 
dinner, and these ladies without their sweetmeats, 
than miss the afternoon parade. Nor is it, in fact, 
the monotonous scene which foreign, uninitiated 
eyes may find it. That fair Seiiora who drives to 
and fro on the pa^eo by the hour, is enjoyuig a 
varied entertainment. Far from being an idle, list- 
less spectator of the scene, she is diligently exer- 
cising her eyes on every passing dame and cavalier ; 
she is exercising her pretty little hand in constantly 
opening and shutting her gayly j^ainted ahanico ,' 
and Avith that graceful instrument, though she do 
not part her lips except to smile, she is talking quite 
as fast as her tongue itself could go. She can speak 
few foreign languages ; but she knows thoroughly 
the language of the fan. She can both confess and 
accuse, rave or sigh with it. She kisses you with it ; 
she sends you an invitation by it ; and she tells you 
whether to come that evening to the opera, to the 
plaza, to Domenica's, or to her own house. Thus 
she holds pleasant discourse with friends and ac- 
quaintances, who, from carriage or saddle, reply with 
bows and smiles, and all those movements of the 
eyes which Spaniards are adepts in. In this way, 



252 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the paseo, instead of being a monotonous, tiresome 
parade, becomes as chatty as the drawing room, as 
amusing as a play, and I know not how much prefer- 
able to reading the Havana newspapers. 

Unfortunately, there is not connected with the 
2)aseo, as in many of the towns of Old Spain, any 
promenade for pedestrians, where gentlemen and 
ladies, alighting from their carriages, can stroll for a 
half hour through grounds tastefully decorated with 
shrubbery and flowers ; where friends can pay the 
calls of the day, and fair ones hold their temporary 
court sans cerhnonie. But, the Paseo Tacon being 
situated at the foot of a hill which is crowned by the 
Castello del Principe, the afternoon drive may con- 
veniently be varied by climbing the tempting sum- 
mit. There, at the hour of sunset, is presented, on 
one side, a view of the piu'ple sea ; on the other, of 
the cream-colored city, now slightly tinged with the 
hue of roses ; and, beyond the walls, of far-reaching 
green jilains, dotted with grouj^s of palm trees. 
Spires, and domes, and towers burn in the last rays 
of the gorgeous tropical sunset ; while the hilltops 
of the distant horizon glow with the reflected light 
of the clouds in Avhich they lose themselves. 



CHA P TER XXI V. 

Church and Opera. 

IA^I sorry to be obliged to represent the Cu- 
bans as not very diligent churchgoers. In the 
mother country, the Spaniards are much more exem- 
plary in the performance of the duty of attending 
mass and vespers ; often filling not only all the seats, 
but even the aisles of their churches. But, on the 
island, the sacred edifices contained, whenever I vis- 
ited them, but a paltry handful of worshippers, and 
always presented on the marble floors abundant 
space for the servants to sj)read the broad carpets 
and cushions of their mistresses. Generally, the 
congregations consisted one half of Africans, who 
are not here compelled to pray in a corner, as m our 
Northern churches ; but who, on the contrary, often 
occupy the very foremost places before the altars. 
Always well dressed, the blacks sometimes come to 
church in great state even. One strapping wench I 



254 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

remember to have seen in a chapel, making herself 
conspicuQiis, directly in front of the high altar, on a 
cushion which had been brought to her for that pur- 
pose by a most respectful black boy. Being dressed 
in a fine jjineapple, a lace mantilla, and embroidered 
skirt, wherein she seemed to take as much delight as 
if it had been bought off the altar, she sat there 
apparently enjoying the imction of extreme comfort 
and self-satisfaction. Her fan, which was opened 
and shut at the end of each ave and j)ater with all 
the air of a fashionable belle, was about as gay as 
any Seiiora's at opera or jKiseo. There appeared to 
be only one little mistake about her — her fashionable 
hoop had been put on backside foremost. 

It was in the freslmess of the early morning, and 
before the rays of the sun had become potent enough 
to require the protection of an umbrella, when I 
ATcnt, for the first time, to the cathedral. At that 
hour, the quiet of the place was not much disturbed 
by worshippers ; and it was pleasant to stroll through 
the diiferent parts of this collection of venerable edi- 
fices, hearing the music of the chant in the remotest 
courts, and the echoes of the organ repeated along 
all the corridors. In some of these iimer courtyards 
tall trees were growing, and Avater was trickling 
from ancient fountains ; while here and there Avere 
to be seen a few plants and flowers. In the course 



CHURCH AND OPERA. 255 

of my walk through the buildings, I observed some 
priests praying, some receiving confessions, some 
promenading and chatting, and others eating and 
smoking. But what interested me most was, not the 
sight of the somewhat neglected courtyards, nor the 
deep voices of the priestly choir, which reverberated 
so far through the aisles and cloisters, but the spot 
where lie enshrined the ashes of the discoverer of 
America. Alas ! that so many heroic qualities of 
character should lie buried there imder the stones, 
and so few be found living and breathing on this 
island ! 

The churches, it may be added, opened here 
every morning and evening to all persons who may 
be disposed to come in for the purpose of offering 
up their prayers, are much more accessible than in 
our Protestant States, where the sacred doors remain 
closed six days out of seven, and where, even then, 
the congregation is shut up in pews, located accord- 
ing to the color of the skin, and the monetary value 
of the worshippers. 

But the opera in Havana, on the other hand, is 
far more difficult of access than that in New York. 
In the season of the Carnival, for example, a box — 
and you cannot take a lady to any other part of the 
house — will cost you fifty dollars. Do you think it 
paying too much for the privilege of seeing a prima 



256 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

donna asoluta ? Rather consider yourself a fortu- 
nate man that the price is not double that sum. In- 
deed, it is more probable that, on a grand gala night, 
you will not be able to get a box for either love or 
money. For every pretty Seiiora and SeSorita in 
Havana will be dying to go, and all the best places 
will have been engaged weeks beforehand. The 
Ilavanese mind seems to be smitten with a j^erfect 
rage for the opera. This is the grand and fashion- 
able entertainment — the most expensive luxury of 
the town. The gentlemen all assist at the spectacle 
in dress coats and emb]"oidered shuts, with stars and 
ribbons in their buttonholes, hats brushed to a hair 
and mustaches waxed uj) to their eyes. The ladies, 
of course, are present iu all their crinoline, but with 
dresses quite ready to fall off their shoulders, and 
laced about the waist within an inch of their lives. 
Every lady has her fan ; every lady is flounced. All 
have their hair done o^/er a cushion, and all have 
their faces done iu eggshell, which they call casca- 
rilla. The long Ime of boxes flashes with jewelry, 
like the blazing mouths of a whole park of artillery. 
For there are diamonds on the brows of every lady 
Avho has a pretty forehead, diamonds on all the taper- 
ing fingers, diamonds on all the round arms, dia- 
monds on the necks which are brunette, and pearls 
on the blonde ones. The boxes are so arranged that 



CHURCH AND OPERA. 257 

the toilets are seen from top to toe. Not a head, not 
a neck, not a waist, arm, finger, foot, but what is" 
visible from every part of the house. The Havanese 
wish to see and be seen whenever they go to hear 
music ; and, much as they pay the piper, they pay 
the jeweller and the dressmaker more. 

The season I was in Havana, the elite of the city 
were divided into two hostile camps, fighting, the 
one for Garcia and the other for Gazzaniga ; and 
making the contest second only to the never-to-be- 
forgotten one carried on a few years ago in New 
York between the partisans of Alboni and of Son- 
tag. It was a war of the roses ; for the victory was 
decided by the greater number of bouquets with 
which the stage was strewn from one end of the 
play to the other. 

Garcia, I believe, won the greater triumph in a 
contest wherein neither champion suffered defeat. 
Her aj)pearance on the stage, the evening of her 
farewell benefit, was the signal for filling the air 
Avith miniature balloons and pigeons, and showers of 
bouquets, to which were attached printed slips of 
complimentary verses. No sooner had the first act 
ended, than the prima donna was again showered 
with flowers. After the second, she was presented 
with a gold bracelet. After the third, her brows 
were crowned with a wreath of diamonds, "all sup- 



258 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

i:)Osed to be genuine ; and when, at the conclusion of 
the opera, the curtain was about to fall, lo ! Garcia 
appeared suiTOunded with the dazzling brilliancy of 
Bengal lights. This furore cost the Havanese a 
handsome little sum, variously estimated by the en- 
thusiasm of the fair donna's admirers at from five to 
tAventy thousand dollars. 

So mad, every time Carnival week comes round, 
do these lovers of pleasure run over some second- 
rate warbler on the stage. Oppressed mortals, they 
have no Congress sitting in Havana to inspire them 
with a nobler, a political frenzy. They have no 
Tammany or Fanueil Hall wherein to let off their 
pent-up passion, Ko grand senate chamber furnishes 
them, from time to time, with the spectacle of the 
representatives of the nation caned in their seats, or 
seizing each other by the coat collar. They have, 
instead, only either the fight of bulls, or this fight 
between the followers of two rival prima donnas. 
Well, let them, for the present, rave, and throw up 
their hats when a Garcia or a Gazzaniga splits her 
throat to please them ; for it is, no doubt, but a short 
time which Avill be vouchsafed them wherein to listen 
to dulcet music, as if it were the smnmum honwn of 
existence. After the island is annexed, we will send 
them a supply of political orators, who, making their 
sweet voices heard loud above the ti'illina* and war- 



CHURCH AND OPERA. 259 

bling Melopomenes of the stage, shall teach them the 
higher art of the stump speech, and how to talk to 
Buncombe. Happy day, when they shall prefer the 
platform of rough boards to the boards of Terpsi- 
chore ; when they shall forsake bull fighting and cock 
fighting for a free fight at the polls ; and when, after 
dimier, instead of finding entertainment in the vanity 
of a volante, or coffee at Domenica's, they shall sit 
out the evening hours in their " Pewter Mugs," 
gravely discussing, over doctored whiskey, the whole- 
some doctrine of universal suflrage, and the princi- 
ples of the year '98, immortal in Virginia. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Ora7iges and the Quays. 

IN different countries the Avise traveller learns a 
different lesson. Whoever visits Italy, for ex- 
ample, finds that his eye is trained to detect and 
appreciate the beautiful. For, besides the treasures 
of art, all the fonns of nature wear there an unusual 
grace, and present an inimitable harmony of color- 
ing. In natm-e, art, and man, lives everywhere and 
reigns paramount the S]Dirit of beauty. By this is 
the thoughtful tourist perpetually delighted and in- 
structed ; not caring to find the Northern idea of 
utility developed in such a country ; not wishing to 
see its lazzaroni shut up in steam factories ; nor even 
its improvmsatori and ballad singers transformed into 
demagogues and expounders of political constitu- 
tions. Enough for him that there is one country in 
the world which enkindles in all jjersons of genial 
minds and hearts a Avarmer love of beautiful art and 



ORANGES AND THE QUAYS. 261 

letters ; so that, returning to their own homes, liuni- 
ble though they be, they are able to discover in them 
a thousand charms and graces never seen before. 

But whoever goes to Cuba has quite another les- 
son set before him. He learns how to eat oranges ! 
And what would that youth at the New England tea- 
drmking not give to know hoAV to cut the orange 
which he wishes to offer to the maid for whose tender 
sake his cheeks are turned to purple, and his knees 
tremble under him ! He does not know how to pro- 
ceed. Shall he peel it for her ? Shall he oifer it to 
her cut into quarters ? 

Now I propose to inform this bashful yomig man 
how the Cubans perform this feat ; and surely they 
ought to be considered experts. First, then, they 
pare the fruit ; taking great pains that the knife pass 
just beneath the outer rind in such a way as to re- 
move the yellow and leave the white part of it. 
This is important, because, if the blade anywhere 
rims so deep as to touch the pulp, the juice will 
trickle through the wound when the orange is eaten, 
and so will spot the lady's fine brocade, or calico. 
The orange, peeled as aforesaid, is cut through the 
centre into halves, each forming a perfect cup for 
containing the precious liquid. And then all that 
remains to be done with the two halves is, to eat 
them. If the nose be a trifle too much hooked, or 



262 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

run out to a point unusually long, it may be a little 
inconvenient to drink the juice after this fashion ; 
so that, in cutting an orange for a lady with such a 
nasal member, it might be questionable whether 
some better way of doing it could not be hit upon. 
Every rule will have its exceptions ; and every man 
must rely on his wits in emergencies. 

Who does not love these delicious golden rounds? 
And is it not a piece of good luck, that this is one of 
the few kinds of food which cannot be adulterated ? 
Down in Connecticut there may be men clever 
enough to whittle out a wooden nutmeg which shall 
pass in Virginia, and the South, for a merchantable 
article. But what Yankee ever yet went about the 
country peddling artificial oranges ? There be mock 
oranges in nature ; but this is a trick of hers where- 
by nobody is deceived. So there are different varie- 
ties of sweet oranges ; as, m the firmament, the stars 
differ from each other in glory. The perfect fruit is 
that, whether grown on the south side of Cuba, or in 
the Algerine valley of Blidah, which you yourself 
pick up beneath the tree where it has been lying all 
night with the dew on it — which you pick uj) before 
the first ray of the rising sun gilds its rind. Th5n its 
juices are cool, and as much better than after they 
liave been fermented, from exposure to a trojjical sun 
in the streets and shops of the city, as champagne is 



ORANGES AND THE QUAYS. 263 

better when served cold from the ice than hikewai'm 
from the sideboard. When yon are in Cuba, get 
early up, and, in the freshness of the morning, fill 
your basket with oranges from imder the oldest trees, 
and eat them after the termination of the morning's 
walk or drive. Cuban servants will pare them neatly 
for you ; but, if not too indolent, you can do it your- 
self. A half a dozen is not too many to eat ; par- 
ticularly if, at breakfast and diimer, you mix Catalan 
wine with your water. 

Who, indeed, does not love oranges ? The father 
returning from town makes his children happy, if, on 
searching his pockets, they find this sweet fruit of 
the tropics there. Even the baby plays delighted 
with one of them, as with a ball. The schoolgirl 
goes on her way with a brighter face and a gayer 
song, for having a big Havana in her satchel ; and 
old age, likewise, smacks its shrivelled lips after 
tasting these sweet juices. How ornamental their 
golden globes are on the dinner table ; and how wel- 
come whenever there is a feast and frolicking ! All 
over the North, the peddler hawks them from village 
to village ; in the shop windows of both io^Yn and 
coxmtry, the eyes of passers by, young or old, greet 
them with pleasure ; while at the bedside of sick- 
ness their juice is among the most grateful of the 
drinks prescribed by the physician — a solace to the 
parched mouth of humanity throushout the world. 



264 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

The orange markets are everywhere in Havana. 
Tliis fruit, which all men buy and eat, is cried about 
the streets, having been brought into town on mule 
and donkey back. It is sold in all the vegetable mar- 
kets, where it is displayed in heaps and baskets ; and 
may also be bought by the boat-load, or the single 
one, along all the j^rincipal quays. These latter are 
not, perhaps, the most eligible places for selecting 
choice fruit ; but one is more entertained there by 
the graver movement of men and affairs, than by the 
huckstering and haggling of the other markets. 

Whoever would gladly see an example of toil 
alleviated by merrunent, should by all means go to 
the quays of Havana, and look at the Africans — pure 
specimens of the race grown in its native land, black 
as charcoal, strong limbed, and tattooed. Here all 
the work is done by them, sprinkled only with a few 
Chinese and Spaniards. With what hilarity and jest- 
ing they roll out the hogsheads of molasses ! with 
Avhat ease they transport on their heads the bricks, 
and boxes of sugar ! They are but half clad, wear- 
ing no shirt or jacket ; and you see the fine play of 
their muscles while tliey are busy at their tasks. 
There is much work to be done on the quays, but 
still more laborers to do it ; so that nearly a third of 
them are unemployed, and cracking jokes witli those 
who have sometliing to do. Of the former, some 



ORANGES AND THE QUAYS. 265 

stand chatting in groups ; some, smoking their cigars, 
sit about on bales of cotton and boxes of sugar ; 
while others, su2)ine, or flat on their breasts, lie sleep- 
ing in the sun. They are strong fellows, and willing 
enough to exert their powers on the slightest pinch 
of uecessity ; but it is amusing to see how many of 
them it will take to pull a boat up to the pier, when 
there happens to be plenty of them at hand, each one 
putting forth the least possible modicum of strength, 
and all making a jest of the efibrt. To unload a 
barge of bricks, each parcel of four must pass 
through the hands of as many different negroes. 
The first one picks them up and hands them to the 
second, who tosses them to the third standmg in the 
prow, and he to the fourth standing on the quay. 
Indeed, there are two more — one to bear them across 
the quay on his head or his shoulder, and the other 
to receive them at the cart. The division of labor 
seems to lighten it ; the companionship in toil makes 
all work with a will. One half of these black men 
may be estimated to be constantly on the grin, and 
the other half to have cigars in their teeth. What a 
horse-laugh that wide-mouthed fellow on the topmost 
cotton bale ejects from his throat ! and did you ever 
before see two such cannibaUstic rows of ivory ? 
He has just pulled the wool over some brother nig- 
ger's eyes, and gone into convulsions about it. 
12 



266 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

These Afi-icans have well-developed chests, and, 
in most cases, handsomely turned arms ; but their 
limbs are always deficient in symmetry. In the 
whole crowd you will not be able to find a single 
form which is, throughout, well proportioned. Either 
their bodies are too long for their legs, or theii: legs 
are too long for their bodies. An Apollo Belvidere 
is not to be sought for here. They have good 
height, however, and generally dwarf their Spanish 
and Chinese associates. Of these last-mentioned 
laborers, the former are a tolerably merry set, and 
even more noisy than the negroes ; but disputatious, 
also, and of a blood that mounts more quickly into 
passion. But the Chinese, with his slender legs and 
thin body, appears not to be so happy at this heavy 
work of the quays ; has rather a homesick look, and 
sometimes wears a visage not a little sulky. Still he 
has brighter eyes and more brains than the African, 
and will finally succeed in domesticating himself in 
our tropics ; although, for the first few years after 
cutting oft' his pigtail, he naturally feels a little un- 
comfortable, and does not quite know how to make 
himself at home without his pet appendage. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

The Cerro. 

I WAS very comfortably lodged, for a few days, 
in one of the hotels in the Cerro. This suburb 
consists mainly of a single street some three miles in 
length, the half of it nearest the town being occu- 
pied by shops and the homes of shopkeepers, and 
the other half by the villas and chateaux belonging 
to the wealthy merchants of the city, and official 
personages of distinction. The most of these stand 
directly upon the street, though a few are situated at 
a little distance from it, in the midst of groves and 
gardens. In passing along this more rural part of 
the Cerro, one gets a view of beautiful green lawns, 
of pretty collections of flowers, of tropical shrub- 
bery growing in the greatest luxi;riance, and of 
palms towering over all, no less gracefully than 
proudly, toward the sky. The mansions are gay 
with bright colors, the white being everywhere 



268 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Striped with pink, sky blue, and apple green. At 
evening, also, nothing of the kind can be more 
charming than a diive through this portion of the 
Cerro^ for the houses — the piazzas included — are all 
brilliantly lighted with gas, and have their doors 
and windows thrown wide open. The passer by, 
looking directly through the halls, sees pretty vistas 
beyond leading to orange gardens, or terminated by 
vases of bright-colored flowers. He also sees the 
members of the fiimily gathered in groups on the 
i:»iazza, or arranged, according to age and sex, in two 
formal rows of rocking chairs. There they sit, the 
ladies opposite the gentlemen, and rock themselves 
the whole evening through. The Spanish funs make 
a pleasant breeze when none blows in at open doors 
and windoAvs ; the flowers dift\ise through the rooms 
a sweet perfume ; the blaze of gas makes every 
countenance visible, even from the street ; exhibits 
all the toilets, and eveiy article of the furniture, the 
volaute which stands in a corner of the hall included. 
You hear, as you jjass, the song, and see the dance. 
You hear, also, the mellifluous hum of the soft S])an- 
ish voices, and their musical, ringing laugh ; and you 
see even the fingering of the piano, and the thrum- 
ming of the strings of the blue-ribboned guitar. 
Charmed with the sight, you exclaim, " IIow social 
this is ! " And, as you see the guests coming and 



THE CERRO. 269 

going, you can hardly restrain the desii'e to enter 
these hospitably open doors yourself, and make your 
bow to such fair company. 

Hard by the Cerro stands a fine old chateau, ap- 
proached by an avenue of palms full half a mile in 
length. As the sunny day draws to a close, it is a 
pleasant promenade from the hotel to pass between 
these graceful rows of sentinels into the grounds and 
gardens of the chateau. You may even be asked 
into the house by the gracious and hospitable in- 
mates. And if, by any chance, an acquaintance thus 
begun should lead to intimacy, I will not say that a 
dinner. party may be given you; but it is 2:)ossible 
that the polite hostess may invite you, if a lady, to 
join her, some morning, in the bath. 

Nor, in this hot climate, is such a favor to be 
lightly esteemed. For the bath is one of the great- 
est of Cuban luxuries. The bath house is often built 
in the midst of a flower garden, and looks like a sum- 
mer bower. The descent is by marble steps into a 
basin of clear spring water of a temjieraturc so 
grateful that an hour passes only too quickly there. 
At the end of it, female slaves stand ready with 
snow-white napkins to make the toilets ; and, after- 
Avard, the bathers, lounging on couches, are served 
Avith fruits and iced drinks. Conversation, embroi- 
dery, books, follow ; or, it may be, the siesta. And 
thus, ere one is aware, is passed an entire morning. 



270 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

A pleasant drive, just off the Cerro, invites the 
stranger to a place of some little resort, called the 
Bishop's Garden, But, mi fortunately, the pleasant 
days when the good hishop lived here are long since 
gone ; and now, all that remains is an old palace 
abandoned to decay, fish ponds in which there are no 
fish, flower gardens wherein there are no flowers, and 
walks, lialf overgrown with grass, leading through 
grounds in which neglect is making graceful mockery 
of all previous lahor and painstaking. It is a pity, 
indeed, that such a fine old palace should be given 
over to the bats and the lizards ; and that the visitor 
to this naturally beautiful spot should see no signs 
of Avork anywhere, except the constant working of 
the luxuriant tropical vegetation. Here are magnifi- 
cent groves and clusters of trees, containing the 
palm, the ceiba, the beech, the mango, the niamey, 
and the sai:)Ote ; while up many a stem is seen climb- 
ing the ivy, or the vine, or tlie Indian fig, and other 
parasites whose name is legion. The scene, in spite 
of the large, pink-colored water roses Avliich lie float- 
ing on the artificial waters, is a little less gay than 
harmonizes well with the mood of mind in Avhich 
one takes his afternoon stroll in the tropics. How- 
ever, the way homeward by the Paseo Tacon will 
sufficiently exalt the spirits again ; for, along the line 
of the western horizon, glowing at sunset Avith that 



THE CERRO. 271 

beautiful tint of pink which one sees in sea shells, 
there stand, in bold relief, palm trees grouped to- 
gether as gracefully as the Three Sisters, or the 
Muses, in old Greek art. And, haply, when the 
traveller, returned to his home in the North, and sit- 
ting muffled, on Avinter nights, by the fireside, thinks 
of the sunny afternoons when he rambled through 
the green suburbs of the Havana, he will see the 
blazing logs converted by his dreamy eyes into those 
same groups of dark palm trees, standing amid the 
pink-colored sea shells of the Caribbean. 



a II A P TEE XX VII. 

Uxenrslons. 

WHAT excursions into the country ought I 
to make from Havana? asks the Yankee, 
who expects to see everything, and counts the very 
best of it not too good for him. 

This question yon will veiy likely ask of your 
banker, to whom you bring a letter of credit ; and, 
in consideration of the three and one quarter per 
cent, which he charges for the trouble of counting 
out your ounces, he is willing to answer a few qi;cs- 
tions. He may not do anything more for you ; but 
a few questions he expects to answer every man who 
comes from the States. Perhaps, when the rate of 
exchange goes against him, and he cannot have the 
face to deduct from your money more than one or 
two per centum, he will be a little more laconic ; but 
the chances are ten to one that you will arrive at a 
period of what he will term a small financial crisis, 



EXCURSIONS. 273 

when, of course, money is very dear, and you will 
not object to paying a handsome premimn for it. 

Take care, by the way, if you ask the banker's 
clerk to give you small money, that he do not shrug 
his shoulders. For it is a first principle with the 
Cuban to take all the silver he can get, and give as 
little. And when you do succeed in extracting it 
from him, I would not like to insure you against 
there being some light-weight pieces among it. Your 
twenty-five-cent coins may not turn out to be of the 
value of more than twenty ; and you must not pre- 
sume that any native will take them for more than 
they weigh in the scales. He knows- their avoirdu 
l^ois the instant they touch his palm. " Five cents 
more, if you please, Seuor," says he, promptly. In- 
deed, I remember, in one instance, when making a 
negotiation with a Habaiiero of the value of a sin He 
sixpence, that I was obliged to produce no less than 
four of these coins before finding one that came up 
to his very nice notion of what was standard value. 
Still, as few strangers speak the language of the 
country, they ought to bear in mind how much trou- 
ble they give everybody with whom they have deal- 
ings, from the banker down to the orange merchant, 
and be ready to pay a shilling or so in the dollar, for 
the privilege of talking incomprehensible S2:)anish, 
looking out of curiosity at twice as many things in 
12* 



274 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the shops as they purchase, sto^^piug people to in- 
quire their way about town, and bhmdering gen- 
erally. Then, too, the amusement of seeing so much 
close reckoning in a country lying so far removed 
from the North Pole, ought to be considei-ed as 
worth something. 

Well — your banker advises you to go to Guana- 
bacoa ; says it is the most agreeable excursion to be 
made out of Havana — in fact, about the only one, 
unless you choose to go to San Antonio and get a 
fish breakfast. Accordingly, little choice being left, 
you decide in favor of Guanabacoa. Go, as I did, in 
the cool of the afternoon, and just as the clouds of 
sunset are lying, one above the other, parallel with 
the horizon, and showing narrow spaces of sky be- 
tween, crimson, and gold-colored ; as though the red 
and yellow of the Spanish ensign had been hoisted 
athwart the heavens. Your satisfaction in taking 
this excursion, be it more or less, begins with a drive 
in a volante from your hotel to the harbor. Thence 
you are carried on your way a half a mile across the 
harbor in a ferry boat. Next, entering a very neat 
and strongly built station house, filled with comfort- 
able railway cariiages, you take a place in one of 
tliem, and are borne by the train through a beautiful 
country of rolling hills crested with palm trees ; 
through fields green in winter, and pastured by cows 



EXCURSIONS. 275 

and oxen ; between hedges of cactus, and a great 
variety of beautifully flowering plants of the trop- 
ics ; within sight, during most of the time, of the 
blue waters of the harbor, past villas gayly striped 
with blue and green, and surroimded with orange 
groves and banana orchards, and thickets of tall ole- 
ander. The journey lasts just eight minutes. In- 
deed, at the end of seven, the shriek of the engine, 
announcing the approach of the train to the town, 
surprises you in the very midst of your enjoyment 
of the lovely prospect. But the road ends at Giiana- 
bacoa ; and you must immediately leave the train, or 
be carried back, in eight minutes more, to Havana. 

It was my good fortune to make this excursion 
on a saint's day ; and, on turning the first corner of 
a street, to stumble upon a procession of the Holy 
Virgin, arrayed in all her artificial flowers, gold lace, 
and brocade. But, to tell the truth, it was a third- 
rate procession of a third-rate, town, consisting of 
not more than a dozen Spaniards, and as many ne- 
groes, the latter being scarcely blacker than the for- 
mer. Three or four greasy candle-bearers headed the 
procession ; a few boys followed, bearing waiters of 
bread and cakes ; then came one solitary priest, but 
a portly one, swinging a censer of incense ; and, 
after him, was borne high in air, on the shoulders of 
half a dozen negroes, the Blessed Virgin herself. 



276 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

I 

But, imfoi'tunately, the foremost of the bearers hap- 
pened to he considerably taller than the hindmost ; 
so that the Madonna stood with her head thrown 
back even farther than became the Queen of Heaven. 
Indeed, her position looked decidedly ticklish ; and 
the Avhole affair went so askcAV, that the porters, 
whose shoulders were becoming uneasy from the un- 
equal pressure, came to a halt for the purjDose of 
getting the tall blacks and the short blacks rightly 
distributed under the burden. But they seemed too 
stupid to know how to do it ; and the Virgin, finally, 
had to go up the steeply ascending street in a posi- 
tion which would have broken her back had she been 
mortal. 

A few steps farther on, I met a girl bearing a 
basket of natural flowers, which took the color en- 
tirely out of the artificial ones of the Virgin. The 
brilliancy of the scarlets was second only to that of 
the sun between the tropics ; the blues were as deep 
as that of the Caribbean ; the purples vied with the 
clouds of the sunset then glowing in the west ; and 
the roses — white, red, and yellow — were fair enough 
to be wreathed in the hair of the maids of Andalu- 
sia. I admired the flowers so much, that, at parting, 
the damsel, in polite Spanish phrase, placed the bas- 
ket at the disposition of the stranger — though not 
expecting, of course, that he would accept it. But 



EXCURSIONS. 277 

it was a beautiful vision, this of the flowers and the 
maiden, which harmonized well with the blushes of 
the sunset ; and for some little distance behind, the 
basket, as it was carried along, left a sweet scent 
floating in the twilight air. 

It was jjleasant to step for a moment into the 
principal church of the town, as the priests were ex- 
tinguishing the last tapers, and the gloom of the 
ancient edifice was beconnng still more deepened by 
the falling shadows of the evening. The plaza — for 
every Spanish town has one — though too small for 
pahus, was well filled with flowering shrubs ; while 
a couple of pretty gardens at the end of the princi- 
pal street, with their stiff", large cactus trees and tow- 
ering pines, heightened the pleasure of the prome- 
nade. 

And so ended my sight-seeing in Guanabacoa. 

The light of the new moon shining out of the 
still pink and purple west guided me on my w\ay 
homeward ; and as I recrossed the beautiful harbor 
of Havana, the ghding of every prow, the dipping 
of every oar, and even the ripples which the soft 
south wind raised upon a portion of the surface of 
the harbor, made the waters all around flash with 
phosphorescent light, as brightly as the stars over- 
head, and the crescent moon. The large clippers, 
and the ships of war from Spain, were casting 



278 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

shadows blacker even than themselves oxer the har- 
bor ; while along the line of the quays the lights of 
the city sent streams of flame, trembling and dan- 
cing, far out across the water. 

On my excursion to San Antonio, the incident 
which gave me, jierhaps, most pleasure, and may 
best be worth mentioning, was the meeting with a 
party of four young bloods — partie carree — who, 
wishing to see the island, had been sent out by a 
Spanish friend of theirs to spend the day at this 
small bathing i:)lace. Making the journey in the 
freshness of the morning, they reached the to^^^l 
with appetites exceedingly sharj) set. Summoning at 
once, therefore, the landlord of the imi at which 
they had alighted, they inquired if he could give 
them a dejeuner a la fourchette. 

" Certainly," replied mine host, with the look of 
a man who was ready for all emergencies ; " and 
with what may it please the gentlemen to be 
served ? " 

" Have you fish ? " inquired the spokesman of 
the party. 

The landlord, his eyes sparkling, instantly col- 
lected the fingers of his right hand to a point, and, 
bringing the same gracefully to his lips, removed 
them with an audible kiss, saying : 

" The gentlemen shall be served with I'ed snap- 



EXCURSIONS. 279 

pers — the best fish in the kingdom of the two 
Spains." 

" Good. And have you any beefsteaks ? " 
Another kiss, even more resonant than the for- 
mer, was the reply ; while, at the same time, the 
portly innkeeper's eyes ran over with smiles, and his 
mouth, watering, ran over with saliva. 

But to serve a rej^ast so magnificent, required a 
little tune. The Seiiores must give a half hour for 
it — which, on this island, means an hour and a half. 
Accordingly, tlie young gents, in order to kill the 
time, sallied forth in their volantes to see the coun- 
try, which, at that hour of the day, was j^retty bril- 
liantly illuminated by the sun. But, bidding defi- 
ance to heat and (^ust, they overran no less than 
three plantations, seeing sugar, coffee, and cotton 
fields, and got back to breakfast before the waiters 
had fully done rubbing themselves in garlic, prepara- 
tory to bringing in the dishes. 

So these tyros of travel sitting down to their 
fork breakfast, the platter of fish was brought in and 
set before them, with an air, on the part of the chief 
waiter, which seemed to say : 

" Seiiores, it is good enough for the king." 
The Seiiores were hungry, and looked at the dish 
with longing eyes ; but what did they behold ? By 
the faith of San Antonio Abad, they saw four fish 



280 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

heads — four enormous fish heads ; and each a head 
without a tail, much less a body ; but, altogether, 
having eight big, glaring eyes, wide open, and all 
staring at these foreign gentlemen ! The gentlemen 
stared hi retui'n with their eyeglasses. But it was 
of no nse ; the fish heads with the naked eyes out- 
stared them. And so, after parley and objurgation, 
the eaters, completely discomfited, ordered the wait- 
ers to remove out of their sight the heads of the 
eaten. 

But now came the turn for the waiters to open 
their eyes a little. The Senorcs not eat fish heads ! 
They stood still in their places, absolutely petrified 
in the face, and their feet as good as glued to the 
floor with amazement. Not eat the heads of the red 
snapper ! It was some seconds before they could 
recover presence of mind sufficient to obey orders. 
But as they finally did so, their countenances changed. 
To surprise succeeded the expression of contempt. 
Surely, they thought, these caballeros from the 
States were, at home, no better than flunkys. 
And one of the mozos, who was a black boy, in 
taking the jilatter out of the room, was overheard to 
say to his fellows, with a significant pointing of his 
thumb over his shoulder : 

" Fish heads too good for 'em ! ' 

The foreign gents then awaited, in mingled indig- 



EXCURSIONS. 281 

nation and dismay, the serving of the steaks. On 
their appearance, however, the party took courage, 
seeing that this dish had, at least, no eyes wherewith 
to stare them out of countenance. The steaks had, 
on the contrary, a decidedly gentle and inoffensive 
expression, being cow's meat — the meat of cows no 
longer suited, by reason of age, to the purposes of 
the dairy. They had, in fact, been jerked beef when 
already on the hoof; and now, though done in oil 
and onions, were not susceptible of mastication ex- 
cept betw^een the molars of a native. 

But the leading gent of the party ventured so far 
as to attempt to SAvallow one of the morsels ; while 
the others, less rash, paused to see the result. They 
not only held back, but they almost held their breath 
during the performance of the experiment. And 
well they might ; for the face of the adventurous 
young man became, in the act of swallowing, first 
red and then purple. In fact, he was on the point of 
— suftbcating — not, of course, from the steak, but 
from indignation, and gasped out : 

" Help ! iinbutton my waistcoat ! " 

Finally, they all made their breakfast on bread 
soaked in wine and water. For on good Spanish 
bread, as I have elsewhere had occasion to observe, 
nobody need starve ; and so the young men all de- 
parted, leaning on this staff" of life, and obliged to 



282 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

content themselves with the shiiple pleasure of pay- 
ing their bill, which amounted to three dollars for 
each person. As usually happens in this country, the 
landlord had decidedly the best of it ; he being left 
in possession of the steaks and fish heads. He had, 
in fact, taken in twelve dollars, and also saved his 
bacon. 



CHAPTER XX Y III. 

A Cuban Steamer. 

I WENT to Matanzas by the steamer, going ou 
board at a late hour in the evening. Spanish 
friends had told me that this was the least disa- 
greeable way of making the journey ; though they 
dropped the hint that some of the vessels, being old 
ones, were not quite trustworthy in a norther ; and, 
indeed, that none of them would put to sea while the 
wind was blovtdng from that bad quarter whence 
comes so much discomfort to the Cubans — cold, hur- 
ricanes, and filibusters. But,- at the hour of my set- 
ting ofl", only the softest zephyrs were fanning the 
evening sea ; while overhead was spread a canopy 
of lustrous stars, pink colored, and green, and silver. 
All these hosts of heaven seemed to be set in motion 
by the movement of the steamer down the harbor, 
accompanying and guarding us, like myriads of the 
ancrels of God. 



284 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Thus divinely and gorgeously attended, Ave left 
behind the city with its thousand lights, the More 
with its fire beacons, the harbor flashing Avith plios- 
phorescent ripples ; and passed at once out upon the 
ocean, to find it more softly but scarcely less beauti- 
fully illaniined by the light of the tropical moon. 
Like a cork in the Avater, the little steamer rose and 
sank with the heaA-ing of the great ocean's breast. 
But no storm Avinds that night were abroad on the 
deej) ; and the dark island lay sleeping in the em- 
brace of the moonlit sea as peacefully as, in the 
Avakeful mother's arms, the infant. 

But what a Babel is the cabin of this Cuban 
coasting steamer ! Tavo or three different languages 
are being spoken, the Spanish scarcely predominating 
OA'er the English ; and everybody is speaking at once. 
In the gentlemen's cabin there is an equally great 
confusion of postures, the passengers having assumed 
all possible attitudes — standing, sitting, reclining, 
lying. All, too, are smoking — even those Avho are 
asleep. At least, a number have gone to bed Avith 
unlighted cigars in their mouths, after tired nature 
has refused to smoke any longer. 

The scent of the tobacco must, of course, reach 
the ladies' cabin, Avhich is separated only by an ill- 
shutting door from that of the gentlemen. But do 
not suppose that the fair Senoras are annoyed by it. 



A CUBAN STEADIER. 285 

On the contrary, two out of the three Cuban ladies 
^\\\o occupied the narrow quarters, lay in their berths 
smoking through half the night, and spitting, too, on 
tlie Hoor, wholly regardless of the direction. The 
third seemed less addicted to the use of the weed ; 
still even she could not muster strength enough to 
arise next morning without the help of a cigarito. 
First having rolled it with the very prettiest of 
tapering fingers, she lighted it by the cigar of the 
man-maid who, during the greater part of the night, 
had been in and out of the room, apparently for no 
other purpose than to keep the Seuoras' cigars going. 
In fact, tlie three smoked, spat, jabbered, giggled, 
and ha-ha-ed xmtil long past midnight. But they 
jested not more freely with each other than with the 
man in waiting, whenever he came to rekindle their 
fires ; though pretending, at the same time, to be 
dreadfully distressed at his i^rcsence. And yet the 
trio were, as the world goes, genteel ladies, having a 
good standing in the best society of Havana, and 
were dressed in rich silks, fine laces, and petticoats 
six inches deep in embroidery. 

It was a piece of good fortvme that the hours of 
this night were short ones ; though it must be con- 
fessed that three o'clock is an early hour for rising, 
even in a Spanish country. But at that time of 
niglit the steamer's whistle blew a blast loud enough 



286 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

to awaken passengers the most grievously afflicted 
with deafness ; and in a few minutes we w^ere all 
aboard the small boats which had surrounded the 
ship, each one with its lantern. It was a good mile 
to shore ; but the horns of the moon also contributed 
to make our water path sufficiently visible. 

The boatman, arrived at the landing, looked 
shai'p at my pesetas, holding them up to his lantern ; 
but, finding them sufficiently heavy, he passed me 
and my baggage on to a negro who was standing, 
half asleep, over a wheelbarrow. The negro, when 
aroused from his nap, placed the trunks on his 
vehicle, and civilly invited me to follow on foot. 
There being no other way of going, on foot I went. 
And a sufficiently dismal walk it was ; for, in j^ro- 
ceedmg through the long, dark streets, I found a 
plenty of dust, together with a great deficiency of 
gas ; so that it was not imtil after much fumbling 
and stumbling that I reached the hotel. 

At that early hour the heavy door was barred 
equally against travellers and robbers. I bade the 
negro knock ; but he did so in vain. I bade hmi 
knock once more — thrice — four times ; but it was 
not until he did so with his shoe heels that I heard 
the low sound of footsteps within. 

" Who's there ? " asked the voice of an African, 
manifestly lialf asleep. 



CUBAN STJEjUIER. 287 

" Travellers, and men of peace," Avas the rejjly. 

Thereupon the porter went away, apparently to 
some remote part of the house, to get a light ; came 
back again for I know not what purpose, and then 
once more went away, probahly to ask permission of 
the landlord to admit the outsiders. It was granted • 
and the ponderous door on rusty hinges opened to 
receive me. I was ushered into the drawing room ; 
and there the negro would have left me to pass the 
remamder of the night, had I not bidden him call his 
master, and make ready an apartment. Very sub- 
missively but droAvsily the porter did his errand ; 
and, returning, went to bed again. At the end of a 
quarter of an hour, no landlord being forthcoming, I 
went again for Sambo, otherwise called Crescenzia, 
who very obediently, and as if fully expecting to do 
so, got up a second time, and was soon heard in an 
adjoining room calling the landlord by name, and 
vigorously shaking him. The latter, sufficiently 
awake to talk intelligibly, promised to get up and 
make provision for the newly arrived guests. So 
Crescenzia once more went to his couch, and I once 
more began my vigils. Another quarter of an hour 
I watched for the coming of the master of the 
house ; biit, instead of approaching footfalls, I could 
hear nothing except the stentorian snoring of half a 
dozen sleepers. Thereupon, summoning Crescenzia 



288 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

for the third time, I insisted on going with him to 
the bedside of the somnolent landlord. Most cheer- 
fully the fellow complied with my order ; and, 
arrived there, he seized the man by the shoulders, 
and shook the sleep out of him by main force ; 
while I stood by, holding a candle, and seeing that 
the operation was thoroiighly well done. Of course, 
the amo de casa had to open his eyes ; he yawned, 
stroked his beard, stretched himself, and, rising in 
his bed, made me as polite a bow as he well could, 
while repressing another yawn by covering his mouth 
with the palm of his hand. He now began, as I sup- 
posed he would, with exj^ressing his regret that he 
had no room in his house unoccupied. Next, having 
by this time got his feet out of bed, he said — what I 
equally expected to hear — that he Avould be able to 
place an apartment at my disposal in the course of 
the day. It was the old story. But, finally, by dint 
of encouraging him by my regrets at having dis- 
turbed him at so unseasonable an hour of the night, 
as well as l)y professions of respect for himself and 
the excellent house over which he presided, I suc- 
ceeded in getting him to say, as he di'ew on his pan- 
taloons, that he would order a cot to be made up in 
the parlor, where I could sleep undisturbed until six 
o'clock. 

The cot spread, I immediately fell so soundly 



A CUBAN STEAMER. 289 

asleep as not to hear the waiter when he came, at 
half past five, to bring me coiFee, in accordance with 
the Spanish custom of drinking it in bed, prepara- 
tory to rising with the lark. However, there are no 
larks, I believe, in this country ; and one cannot say 
liere, with the accomplished author of " Thorndale " : 

" Rise with the lark ; your motions shall obtain 
Grace, be their composition what it may, 
If but with hers performed." 

But there are fighting cocks ; and I slept through 
the crowing of no less than seventy of them in the 
pit, or rather yard, next door. They had begun 
their defiant chanticleering not long after my arrival, 
giving tongue in full chorus, the entire roost of 
them ; and fiercer or more lusty crowers, siirely, 
never were collected together next door to a hotel. 
Think how many ill-sounding words must have been 
uttered over these heralds of the dawn by the ner- 
vous invalids wont to come every wmter to this 
island in pursuit of health, and to this lodging house 
in expectation of sleep. Alas ! to them this pit full 
of cocks must have been of the nature of the pit 
Tartarean. However, it was an occupation rather 
amusing than otherwise for me, while waiting for a 
place to lay my head on, to listen to the rivalry 

which was going on between the snoring sleepers in 

18 



290 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPIC'S. 

an adjoining room, and these Growers in the adjoin- 
ing premises — it being a concert peculiarly Spanish. 

Matanzas, I may here add, is a j^retty town, lying 
with its back against the hills, and its front toward 
the sea, which here forms a spacious and convenient 
harbor. The town is built a certain distance down 
on either side of the water, in the fonn of a horse- 
shoe. At one extremity lies the paseo, commanding 
a view of the shipping ; and on the other side runs 
along the line of shore a pleasant beach, abounding 
in shells, and much frequented as a pleasure drive. 
Hither the lover of fair sea views goes to see the sun 
descend behind the hills, and also to see it rise in the 
morning out of the ocean. The paseo is a short 
one ; but the plaza is larger than that at Havana, 
and well filled with flowers. On this square are 
many fine houses, built of one story, but, in some 
cases, extending from street to street, and having a 
courtyard in their centre, with suites of rooms 
around it. The drawing room is always on the 
street, as well as the hall of entrance, in one or the 
other of which stands the volante ; for the volante is 
kept in Cuba almost as much to be seen as to be 
used. The bedrooms are situated in the rear, and 
those occupied by the ladies have windows furnished 
with iron gratings, and no doors opening externally. 
In these chambers the pitchers and basins may be of 



A CUBAN STEAMER. 291 

silver ; while iu some boudoir, oi' place equally con- 
spicuous, will be displayed the family knives, and 
forks, and spoons. The furniture, however, is gen- 
erally very plain, it being liable to be eaten iip by 
insects, and to be injured by the intense heat of sum- 
mer. The floors are laid in tiles or marble, making 
the rooms look cool and comfortable in spite of the 
ominous mosquito nets. The walls are mostly white, 
or stained with little show of art ; though a few of 
the best houses contain frescoed ceilings, and even 
such luxuries as a swimming bath, a gymnasium, and 
a small theatre. But the principal luxury generally 
aimed at in building these houses is a sufficiency of 
cool air ; so that the rooms are large and lofty, and 
incapable of being heated ai'tificially. Indeed, there 
are no such things as either stoves or fireplaces, ex- 
cepting in the kitchen. This room, by the way, 
though not enjoying a reputation for neatness, is 
nevertheless, in private houses, often kept thoroughly 
swept and scrubbed, and looking every whit as clean 
as the drawinsx room. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Fighting CocJcs. 

lEFORE falling asleep on the morning of my 
arrival at the hotel, I resolved that it should 
be one of the first duties of the day to visit the cock- 
yard whence emanated the extraordinary chanticleer- 
ing mentioned in the preceding chapter. Before 
seeing the bay of Matanzas, or the j'^'aseo, or the sea 
beach, or the valley of the Yumori, I would pay a 
visit to these cocks, and compliment the Don who 
owned them on their remarkable capacity of wind- 
pipe. 

In fact, I did so before breakfast, and hat in 
hand. It was then past nine o'clock, but the seventy 
had not entirely finished heralding the morn. Some 
of them, indeed, seemed to be crowing over each 
other ; and the j^rincipal group, immediately on my 
entrance, all went off in a blast apparently to do me 
honor. But my looks entreated silence. I wished to 



FIGHTING COCKS. 293 

express without delay to the Don, who stood before 
me in a rusty dress coat, and head tied up in a black 
silk nightcap, m^ admiration of his crowers. And 
when sUence had been obtained, I at once spread 
myself out into an immense circle of amplification 
upon the great public advantage there must be to the 
town in having its inhabitants — men, women, and 
children — all waked up betimes in the morning; a 
period of the day so beautiful in these tropical coun- 
tries, and so favorable everywhere to moral unpres- 
sious. The Don bowed his satisfaction ; and, in a 
strain even more eulogistic, set forth the honor I had 
done him, and his cocks, by this visit. 

He then ordered the negroes in attendance to 
show their best birds ; and very noble, full-fledged, 
and high-stepping fellows they were. Head and 
tail, they were of the brightest crimson. They were 
also duly plucked on the back ; had their spurs on, 
and stood as i:»roudly erect on their legs as formerly 
did the cock immortalized by Plato. Nor, like so 
many young beaux in eyeglasses, would one suffer 
another to look at him without instantly replying 
with a challenge to mortal combat. And when I 
praised their haughty tread, and boiling, tropical 
rage, the thin little Don, bowing almost to the 
ground, mihesitatingly put the entu-e roost at my dis- 
position — a SIC disjwsicion de listed. 



294 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

What if I had taken him at his word ! For the 
man prized each cock at I dare not say how many 
ounces. Here was, in fact, a considerable , fortune 
carefully invested in roosters, as well as a still great- 
er one in anticipation from the douhloons they would 
win in the ring. 

" This bird," said he, j^roiidly pointing to one tied 
near a small hOl of earth, " this fellow has killed 
three competitors ; that one yonder, four — all reck- 
oned among the best fighters on the island." 

" Next Sunday," he continued, " they will win 
for me a pile of ounces." 

And he made a significant gesture with his hand 
to show how high the pile would rise — himself, 
meanwhile, strutting with as conquering an air as if 
he had been one of his OTvm cocks ; his little black 
eyes flashing with the rage of combat, and his uncon- 
scious hands almost tearing his nightcap to tatters. 
So hot was his Castilian blood ; and so intensely Avas 
felt, by anticipation, the ire of the day of battle, and 
of the pit stained with blood. 

No doubt, on the following Sunday, the cockpit 
was crowded to its utmost capacity. At least that at 
Havana was, the day I saw it ; and it was one capa- 
ble of holding a thousand persons. Built Avith an 
open but solid framework, only sufiiciently covered 
to protect it from sun and rain, the seats were 



FIGHTING COCKS. 295 

arranged story above story, and were all filled with 
Creoles, mostly of tlie middle class of society. I 
could almost imagine this tower ready to fall to the 
ground like that of Babel ; for speech was here con- 
founded in the multitude of voices. The moment 
the cocks had been weighed and set in the ring, they 
began to pitch into each other ; and, at that moment, 
began also the tumultuous vociferation of the bet- 
ting. Ilundreds of men, half infuriated from sym- 
pathy with the madness of the fighting in the pit, 
were crying to each other from one part of the 
building to the other, every man pointing to his bird 
with furious gesticulation, and shouting at the toj^ of 
his voice, " A dollar on the red ! " " An omice on the 
white ! " And as, in the progress of the spurring 
and pecking, the red or the white get the nose-bleed, 
or lose an eye, or are knocked over, the betters cry 
out to each other, " Two ounces to one on the red ! " 
" Two ounces to one on the white ! " Every time 
the bill draws blood, or there is a hit of the spurs, 
the discord of the voices rises higher ; and then, 
when one of the cocks seems to give indications of 
having had quite enough of the fight, it lulls again. 
This lasts imtil one of the two combatants falls life- 
less to the gromid. Then, for a few minutes, there is 
comparative silence, interrupted only by the jingHng 
of the gold and silver passing from hand to hand. 



296 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

For, wherever there is cock-fighting, there is "bet- 
ting ; pockets are emptied of small gains ; and 
doubloons, too, are tossed about "with the duros. 

But can anything be either more absiu'd or hard- 
hearted, than this enthusiasm of men over the paltry 
rage of a couple of roosters ! And no wonder that, 
iji coimtries where such amusements prevail, the 
national face is so little expressive of sensibility and 
delicate emotion. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

A 3Iatanzas Fonda. 

Y half past nine o'clock I had returned from 

the cockyard to the Fonda, and was ready for 

breakfast. And an excellent Spanish breakfast it 

proved to be, with Catalan wine, which, in these 

tropics, I drank with -greater relish than formerly in 

Catalonia. But the chef-cVceiivre of the meal was, I 

will not say, the beefsteak pie, so much relished by 

the Cubans, but the tortilla con seso. This is a very 

famous dish. You may not relish the idea of a brain 

omelette, but you will be a happy man the day you 

taste its reality. I could tell you how to make it, if 

it would be of any use. And, indeed, not to leave 

your curiosity unsatisfied, know that there must be a 

small cup of boiled seso; nor be disturbed at the 

thought of adding half the quantity of chopped 

onions. A delicate flavor of parsley also, must j)er 

vade it. It must be hot with pepper. And when 
13* 



298 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

you know that four eggs are to be added, you know 
all that can well be told about it. Then, if.you do 
not succeed to your mind in making it, take a trip to 
Matanzas some day, and get permission to see it done 
by the cook of the fonda. 

But there is one thing I cannot explain to you at 
all ; and that is, Avhy prhna donnas should expose 
themselves at the jiublic breakfast tables without 
their faces being painted. It causes such a perfect 
disenchantment, that no one who has beheld them 
under such circmnstances in the morning, can possi- 
bly get up the illusion requisite for enjoying the 
entertainment of the stage in the CAxning. It also 
might puzzle me to tell Avhy American ladies should 
come to breakfast in dresses 'decoUetees. So much 
dressing at this early hour was certainly very ill- 
suited to the apartment in which the meal was 
served, it being no other than the hall of entrance, 
Avith its ^9or?e cocMre, and opening, Avithout any 
door, on the inner courtyard. Nor was the drawing 
room itself much better adapted to the exhibition of 
over-elegant toilets ; for there the gentlemen smoked 
their cigars in the presence of the ladies ; and there 
suddenly appeared, one morning, in the midst of the 
assembled company, the landlord's horse, who \)X0- 
ceeded through the room as quietly as if he had 
been a guest of the house, and quite as unconcerned 



f 



A MATANZAS FONDA. 299 

at the remarks which were made about him. He 
was on his way to the stable, the door of which he 
seemed perfectly well able to distinguish from the 
others standing open in its vicinity. He even knew 
enough to stop before a clothes line stretched across 
the court ; standing there until the wet linen had 
been lifted for him to pass under. Truly a very 
sagacious brute, and well-behaved ! 

My room was on the first floor, as were all others, 
and so convenient of access that, on entering it, I 
could but recall to mind the case of the stout lady 
from Cuba, who, being so unfortunate as to have an 
apartment in the fifth story of one of the hotels in 
New York, resorted to the trick of fainting every 
time she came in from the street, in order that she 
might be carried up stairs by the waiters. The ruse 
answered very well for a time ; until, one day, Pat- 
rick and James vowed that tliey would be blistered 
before they would carry the lady up any more, 
unless they had each a qiiarter for it. Whereupon 
the lady ceased famting. 

My room opened on the inner court, by a door 
large enough to admit two horses abreast ; and of 
the same size was the window, which had heavy 
Avooden shutters inside, and a still more heavy iron 
grating without. There being no glass, the passer- 
by looked through the open grating upon the occu- 



300 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

pauts of the apartment, very much as, in a menage- 
rie, he would take a peejj at the lions. There, at 
half past five o'clock in the morning, appeared the 
venerable black woman who brought me cofiee, and' 
peeled oranges ; and so black, withal, was she, as 
almost to put out the breaking light of the dawn, 
bringing back Erebus and the old night. Certainly 
she would have done it, but for the lighted end of 
her cigar, and the white of her eyes. There is, in 
fact, no such thing as privacy in a Cuban fonda. 
The i^artitions between the rooms extend only two 
thirds of the way np to the ceiling ; so that all con- 
versation not cai'ried on in an undertone is necessa- 
rily overheard by your nearest neighbors. If, in 
their sleep, any of them haj^pen to have the night- 
mare, you are sure to know it ; while every word 
Mrs. Caudle says to Mr. Caudle goes through half 
the house, and terrifies all the husbands. 

Nor was I the sole occupant of my apartment. 
For in one corner, between the rafters — all of which 
were micovered — a couple of very loquacious bats 
had built their nest. And, though quiet through the 
day, they kept up, at night, a perpetual chattering. 
Judging from the noise, one would have said there 
was a large family of bat-children in the nest. They 
certainly had a great deal to say for themselves ; 
but, for my part, I never spoke to them, nor in any 



A MATANZAS FONDA. 301 

way gave them to understand that I was aware of 
their presence ; so that, in fact, the two families — 
mine and theirs — though living in the same apart- 
ment, took as little notice of each other as might 
have done any two parties of Englishmen thrown 
together by chance on their travels. The beams of 
the roof had been left bare for the sake of better 
ventilation ; as, for the sake of the additional cool- 
ness, the floor had been laid in cement. The walls 
also were of a cold color, being whitewashed. The 
couches had no mattresses, and did not look at all 
hot, like, for example, the feather beds of the Teu- 
tonic nations. On two slender tripods stood two 
very small white basins. There was one pine table, 
and on it a toilet glass twelve inches by eighteen. 
A row of nails driven into the wall answered the 
purpose of a wardrobe, and had probably been 
driven there by some travel! mg Yankee, who had 
the wit to invent this species of clothespress. There 
was no carpet on the floor ; but before the t^\o beds 
lay two rugs, luckily of a pattern so small as to pre- 
clude the idea that the fleas of the house could pos- 
sibly think of having a wake or mass meeting mider 
them. Such Avere the quarters wherein I passed a 
week most happily, if not comfortably ; and to the 
credit of the Cuban family in the ceiling, be it re- 



302 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

peatecl, that, during all tliis time, tliey picked no 
quarrel with me. 

The nails which the sagacious Yankee had driven 
into the wall of my room answered still another ex- 
cellent purpose ; for thereujjon, every morning, was 
hung the day's supply of fruit. A big basket held 
the oranges ; the bananas were suspended by their 
branches, and the pines were tied up by strings ; but 
the cocoanuts were more conveniently heaped in a 
corner. With all this abundance of sweet stores, 
and a bottle of Catalan wine, I pleased myself with 
the thought that I could easily endure a famme, or a 
siege of twenty-four hours' duration ; and, certainly, 
the plank door, as well as the iron gratings of the 
windows, would have held out that length of time 
against any reasonable number of beggars or bandits. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Th e C%t m hre. 

IF you happen, toward evening, to be standing in 
the doorway of your fonda at Matanzas, and 
see a very good-looking negro drive up, with a 
couple of stout liorses and a tolerably neat volante, 
do not think of engaging him for an excursion, next 
morning, to the valley of the Yumori. He will ask 
eight dollars and a half for about three hours' ser- 
vice. He will agree to go even for six — I dare say 
for five ; but the trouble is, that he will not come to 
fulfil the engagement at either price. Should you 
appoint the hour of smirise for the setting ofi^ — the 
time of day when the nosotros and genuine Spanish 
Christians usually begin their journeys — you will 
have the satisfaction of getting up early, and waiting 
all the morning for a black man ; but he will not 
come. He will not come — and this is the key to this 



304 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

small mystery — imless ordered by your landlord, who 
shares with him the fee. 

Accordmgly, I ordered my volante in the regular 
way, through mine host. I desired it to come at five 
o'clock, and it arrived at six ; which was very good 
luck, considering the dilatory habits of the gentry of 
the whip in Matanzas. And how pleasant it is to set 
off on an expedition to the country in the freshness 
of the Southern moniing ! In fine style the tand§m 
took lis through the streets, already astir with indus- 
try ; and as we crossed the bridge, the bay was 
flooded with the amber light of sunrise. The ship- 
ping lay partially enveloped in a mist, which was like 
dust of gold ; while the rijjples on the water, just 
awaking from their night's slumbers, resembled a 
wide expanse of gilded fretwork. We gazed with 
delight at the fair, artistic scene, as we passed on 
along the paseo ; and, after reaching the hillside be- 
yond the town, tui'ning around, we gazed agam ; for 
it was, indeed, a genuine Claude, and no copy. 

Ah, how fresh, how still was that morning air ! 
how blue the sky overhead, and white the thin, 
fleecy clouds that floated in it, as the volante wound 
its way up the gentle acclivities of the Cumbre ! 
The heavy dews of the night, which had been 
brought down by the land wind to this margin of 
shore, lay in drops in the hollow of every leaf, and 



THE CUMBRE. 305 

hung from every blade of grass and projecting point 
of vegetation. We climbed up the road of rocks, 
between flowering hedges and thickets draped with 
morning glories delicately pink-tinted. The fields on 
either side were crowded with a rank growth of 
strange plants and shriibs, mingled with flowers of 
such gorgeous beauty as is becoming on an island 
lying so directly in the eye of the sim. 

It was a region of country much neglected by the 
owners of the soil, but wherein nature wrought with 
irrepressible power, and Avith a satisfaction appar- 
ently none the less deeply felt by herself for not 
being noticed by the eye of man. At all the villas 
by the wayside, including those which stood unoccu- 
pied, and with broken gates, we saw groves of crim- 
son oleanders, here endowed with fragrance. For 
long distances by the roadside there were magnifi- 
cent rows of aloes, at this season just out of flower ; 
the very stone walls -^ere tipj^ed with cactus, or 
hmig with jessamines ; and scarcely a bank or patch 
of grass was anywhere to be seen of which the flow- 
ers did not make a fair enamel. Here and there we 
passed under specks of shade, cast by palms, and 
pines, and wild oranges. Cattle, also, we saw 
browsing in the pastures, and striped-faced goats 
nibbling by the roadside, and flocks of sheep on the 
distant hilltops. 



306 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

As we mounted the upper lieiglits, the air became 
still pm'er than below. To the gulden haze of the 
morning succeeded the more brilliant light of the sun, 
shining in full splendor, without a cloud. The blue 
waters of the bay lay far beneath us ; while the 
ocean, whitened by many coming and going sails, 
stretched away beyond reach of the eye. Alas ! 
what lacked the heights of the Cmnbre, surmoimted 
by graceful palm trees, and blooming with flowers 
just washed in the dews of the mornmg — Avhat 
lacked this view of mountain, and plain, and shore ; 
of city, and harbor, and the sea ? Only the nightin- 
gales of the Pyrenees and Sorrento ! 

Perhaps, hoAvever, there is one more thing to be 
desired on these beautifid mountain tops ; and that 
is, better roads whereby to reach them. As it was, 
we came by a mei'e cart track, so full of rocks and 
stones, and all manner of holes, that none but well- 
trained animals could pick their way through them ; 
while no carriages with wheels less large and cum- 
brous than those of the volante would escape a 
breakdown. Nevertheless, in this buoyant air one 
can hardly experience the sensation of fatigue, and 
instantly forgets the toil of the ascent the moment 
the height is gained, from which he looks down uj)on 
the valley of the Yumori. 

In the neighborhood of Matanzas there is, truly. 



THE CUMBRE. 307 

no second sight to be seen after it ; and whoever, on 
beholding the bay of Naples, failed to be overtaken 
by the wish to close his eyes on all sublimary scenes, 
may possibly feel that he has reached his final climax 
when once he has seen the Ymnori. Its features are 
well known to those who are familiar with printed 
descriptions of this island ; for it is the lifelong 
boast of all travellers who have ever seen it. Every 
tourist will tell you that it is like the happy valley 
of Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia ; and you will do 
well to believe him. For, imagine yourself standing 
on the summits of the Cumbre, and looking down 
into a valley encircled by moimtains, as if it had 
formerly been the bottom of a great lake. Around 
its entire edge it is filled with softly rounded hills, 
sloping gently toward its centre, which consists of a 
comparatively level plain. And on the tops and sides 
of all these gracefully rolling hills, as well as at in- 
tervals throughout the plain, imagine innumerable 
palm trees, white stemmed and green topped, stand- 
ing either alone, or gathered in open groups. They 
form the drapery of the landscape, which, when I 
saw it, was more beautiful from being, in the remote 
distance, partially veiled by the still lingering mists 
of the morning. How lovely not only these dark 
palms, like the cattle on a thousand hills, but how 
soft and fair the green of the sugar plant which cov- 



308 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

ered the greater part of the vales and hillsides ! 
Even those declivities the soil of which had been 
recently turned by the plough, being of a rich brown 
or chocolate color, heightened the beauty of the 
mosaic landscape ; while the few hills which were 
not under cultivation, but overgrown with wild shrub- 
bery, disj^layed the purple tints of English moors, or 
of the heaths of Scotland. "We lingered long in the 
presence of this great beauty of nature, and de- 
clare(l, as we drove along the mountain's brow, over- 
looking it, that this was a happy valley, whether or 
not that of Rasselas. And, far below, we descried 
on one of these roiiuded hilltops a snug little villa, 
with its gardens and palm groves, which we affirmed 
should henceforth be numbered among our chateaux 
en Espagne. Two or three other villas, at which we 
stopped on our w^ay, were also pretty; and at one 
of them we were hospitably entertained with such 
oranges as no prince of Abyssinia ever tasted ; with 
cigars which were the very topmost leaf and flower 
of all tobacco ; and with a glass of whiskey that 
was as the dew of the moimtain, even of this bread 
mountain, called Pan de Matanzas. We here saw 
coffee and cotton plants, as well as the sugar cane in 
different stages of growth, and the process of sugar 
making. We likewise tasted, for the first time, the 
sweetness of this Southern reed, the negro in attend- 



THE CUMBRE 309 

ance peeling it with his knife, and handing it to ns to 
be sucked, as do small boys their sticks, one end in 
paper, of molasses candy. It made a tropical and 
rather refreshing entertainment ; though, to my 
taste, this is one of the few sweets of life which are 
a trifle too much sweetened. Meanwhile, our ears 
were likewise entertained with the novel cries and 
songs of the neighboring sugar house, and the clatter 
of the mules, as, driven by half-naked boys and girls, 
with whip in hand, they kept in motion this grand 
hurly-burly of the grinding. Servants everywhere 
attended us in our joyful progress about the estate, 
aU grinning to do us pleasure. They gathered for 
us gorgeous bouquets of flowers ; while one of the 
dusky damsels more comely than the rest, and, in- 
deed, of blood almost purely Spanish, wore orange 
blossoms in her hair — the only ones we had seen so 
worn on the island. Specimens of trojiical fruits 
were eagerly exhibited ; and a nimble black boy, 
greatly to our amusement, shinned up a palm to cut 
some cocoanuts. A very sleek and happy-looking 
set of servants were they all at this chateau. The 
gobblers which greeted us in the courtyard, and 
spread their tails in honor of our arrival, were not 
more swollen and pufied than were these fellows, 
men and maids, all blown with hilarity and joy at 



310 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the coming of tlie strangers from parts to tliem iin 
'known. 

And so, after an excm-sion of three hours' length 
prolonged to six, we di'ove np to the doors of our 
fonda., as happy as the morning had been long, and 
as hungry as a man should be who sits doAvn to the 
tortillas of mine excellent landlady. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
A Cuban Mailway. 

FROM Matanzas to Havana I went by rail. 
Some Spanish gentlemen of my acqiiaintance 
endeavored to dissuade me from proceeding by land, 
inasmucli as the railroad, being a monopoly, is used 
principally for the transportation of sugar ; and, so 
long as the freight trams can be kept on the track, 
small pains are taken about the comfort or safety of 
passengers. Three or four times in the week the 
passenger trains run off the road, or are delayed on 
it in consequence of the failure of the engines. To 
be sure, no lives are lost, the engineers always select- 
ing soft places to go off on, and performing the 
operation m the very gentlest manner possible. But, 
though one's neck be not broken, he may be detained 
half a day in an open plain, parched by the sun of 
the tropics, or he may be kept over night where it 
will cost him a quarter of an ounce to order a sup- 



312 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

per, which, M'hen ordered, will never be served, or, 
when served, will never he eaten. However, I went 
by the rail. 

The train started at sunrise ; and it would be 
superfluous to say that it was a fine morning ; but it 
may be worth remarking, that we set ofl:* on the 
stroke of six, as punctuality is a rare virtue so near 
the equator. It made a very good start, but, before 
getting more than four or five miles out of town, 
suddenly came to a full stop in the open coimtry. 
This was a halt requiring explanation ; and, ujjon 
inquiry, it turned out that the conductor had re- 
ceived a signal at a certam point on the road, which 
induced him to stop, after he had got about a mile 
beyond it. He then sent back a man on foot, while 
the train was kept Avaituig. Why the train itself 
did not go back — as to have done so would liave 
taken comparatively little time — it was not easy to 
guess. Indeed, the conductor himself finally walked 
back a quarter of a mile, and then, turning about, 
walked forward again. All these movements were 
very Spanish, and qiiite inexplicable. 

But tlie long delay gave the ofiicials having 
charge of the train an opportunity to inspect its 
condition, and see what might have given out in the 
course of the run of four or five miles. Nor did it 
take long to ascertain that something had gone 



A CUBAN kAILWAY. 313 

wrono-. We had broken a brake, one end of which 
lay upon the ground, and looked as though it had 
not succumbed a moment before its time. However, 
we got on quite as well without the brake as with it. 
Nothing more came to pieces during the journey ; 
and we kept the track to the end. The Chinese 
appeared to make sufficiently intelligent brakemen ; 
while some of them also supplied the passengers, 
from time to time, with peeled oranges. At one of 
the stations I bought most delicious cheese cakes, 
served on green banana leaves ; so delicious, indeed, 
that uxorious husbands have been known to be 
tempted to repeat this journey simply for the sake 
of giving their wives another taste of them. 

One more Spanish peculiarity, however, noticed 
in the running of the road, was, that, after the acci- 
dent to the brake, the engineer backed the train a 
hundred yards or more, apparently for no other pur- 
pose than that of starting it ; as when, in leapmg, a 
man steps back a few paces, in order to give himself 
a better chance for accomplishing the feat success- 
fully. So, at Guines, the train backed a full mile 
before leaving. It might possibly have bepn for the 
purpose of allowing another train to j^ass ; but I sus- 
pected that the conductor thought it necessary to 
take unusual pains not to make a bad start, inasmuch 
as the day was Friday. 



314 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

The country through which the rond passes, being 
occupied chiefly by sugar plantations, is beautiful 
throughout, and, in some places, picturesque. The 
palm trees, of the sight of Avhich one never tires, 
escorted us in groups and groves the whole distance 
to Havana, as the stars had previously done on our 
way along the coast to Matanzas. And scarcely less 
graceful than the palms were the thickets of reeds, 
which grew in clusters by the roadside. If the for- 
mer trees reminded us, by the color of their stems, 
of the white birch of our Northern home, so the 
delicate leaves, slender branches, and bending heads 
of the latter brought to mind, also, the graceful foli- 
age of this well-called lady of the woods. The 
mango tree resembles our chestnut, presenting a 
dense mass of green leaves, the extremities of which, 
at this season, are tipped Avith the orange and purple 
of the bursting buds. Interspersed together were 
everywhere to be seen magnolias, with their large, 
glossy, dark-green leaves ; tall pines of a delicate 
shade of bluish green, and lightly fringed with 
needles ; and orange trees at the same time golden 
with fruit and white with blossoms. Here towered 
the ceiba tree with its strong, graceful stem, and 
wore its crown of rich green leaves above the tops 
even of the palms. The darker mameys were loaded 
with fruit gray-colored ; the sapota tree with fruit 



A CUBAN- RAILWAY. 315 

of brown ; the tamarind drooped witli pods ; tlie 
calabash was hung with round balls ; the leaves of 
the banana were swayed by the wind, revealing its 
fruit clusters and buds of violet ; while only here 
and there the cypress cast from its mournful boughs 
a fi'own on the smiling face of the landscape. Up 
many a lordly stem climbed the female fig — yiiagua 
emhra — holding it in a beautiful though fatal em- 
brace ; the lovely convolvulus, entwining itself around 
the trunks of dead monarchs of the woods, decked 
them with palls of white flowers ; and innumerable 
tops of tall trees were tufted with various parasitical 
plants, the orchids and the aloes, all their flowei's 
laughing in the sunlight, or dancing in the wind. 
Many misshapen forms, indeed, come to view in these 
tropical woods ; and in the midst of all this abound- 
ing life there is constant decay. But the grace of 
parasitical plants creeping everywhere, and beautiful 
w4th every tint of flowers, is hung like a veil over 
the deformity of nature. 

The undergrowth of shrubbery, likewise, is most 
luxuriant^ and shows much gorgeous coloring. The 
wild passion-flowers are of many different varieties ; 
the hedges are covered with several kinds of convol- 
vulus ; the fever-flower flaunts in flame and gold ; 
the species of aloe plant, called ^^eto, burns a stately 
candelabra with fire of yellow^ ; the mangroves hold 



316 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS 

out to the passer-by white chalices full of perfume ; 
the apple rose scents the air around it so deliciously 
as to hold all footsteps, as in an enchanted circle, 
spellbound ; the v/ild heliotrope runs modestly by 
road and path sides ; while everywhere fly, amid the 
flowers and the sunshine, huuniiing birds and butter- 
flies, and countless insects, all flashing with the tints 
of precious stones and the bow in heaven. All the 
forms of nature were high colored — flowers, foliage, 
the sky, and even the very ground itself. Indeed, 
the red dust which occasionally filled the railway car- 
riages painted as well as powdered all our faces, and 
imparted to our travelling dresses a tinge quite as 
warm as that of the landscape. But, in spite of the 
clouds of dust which we had to encounter at some 
few points on the road, it was a pure delight to 
breathe the air of the open coiintry ; and I remem- 
ber that, after our luncheon of oranges, bought from 
the palm basket of the Chinese brakeman, we not 
only pronounced the juice equal in sweetness to that 
of the apples which tempted the first of women, but 
would have it that the island itself was not a very 
bad copy of the original Eden. 

At any rate, 'tis hard leaving it. Indeed, the 
difficulty of getting away from Spanish countries is 
greater than persons who have never visited them 
can well imagine. To arrive, is, generally, no easy 



A CUBAN RAILWAY. 317 

matter ; but to depart — tliere's the rub. It costs 
just double the money to get out that it does to get 
in, and more than double the trouble. For exam- 
ple : the porter, when I went to the hotel in Havana, 
charged me a dollar and a half ; when I left it, three 
dollars. The boatman asked one for landing, two 
for embarking. The passport fee was, on arriving, 
two dollars ; on departing, four. Landlord, porter, 
boatman, official, all act on the jjrinciple of fleecing 
the parting guest, not speeding him. Nor, even 
after having satisfied the demands, just and unjust, 
of these worthies, can a man leave the island except 
by permission of his wife ; for, under the Spanish 
law, she can stop liim, by showing cause. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Nassau — A Winter Nexoport. 

IN eight-and-forty liours, or less, one may steam 
from Havana to Nassau, and see the tropical 
Englishman — a sight worth seeing. Leaving the 
island of the black-haired, olive-faced men, and mak- 
ing a short run across the northern tropic, the trav- 
eller is again among the blue eyes, and complexions 
which take on freckles. At the same time, he feels 
that he has reached once more a free country ; that 
he has passed from beneath the law of military force, 
under that of liberty and a protecting public oitinion. 
Here are no moi'e stilettoes, no grated windows, nor 
the heavily barred doors of the Spaniards. The 
Nassauese have not, it is ti"uc, either paseos^ or gui- 
tars at night beneath tlie moon ; ])ut, instead of I)o- 
menica's, here are the town library and reading 
room ; instead of the opera, here are concerts and 
lectures once a fortnight at the Bahama Institute ; 



WASSAU—A WINTER NEWPORT. 3iy 

fashionable calls, between the hours of twelve and 
three, take the place of the midday siesta ; and the 
stranger who has been entertained Avith ices and 
volantes., finds himself once more asked to dinner. 

Indeed, my dear reader, you might even risk the 
voyage direct from New York, for the sake of ex- 
changing, for once, your Northern winter for the 
perpetual summer of this green little island, so 
piously called New Providence, and so conveniently 
anchored just on the shady side of the Tropic of 
Cancer. Such a change of residence, once in half a 
dozen years, would cure all your chilblains, and even 
lengthen the days of your life ; inasmuch as the win- 
ter's sun rises here an hour earlier, and lingers at 
evening an hour later above the horizon. Sitting, in 
the month of January, with open windows, and look- 
ing out upon the golden fruits hanging amid the 
leaves so deeply green, one can scarcely refrain from 
wondering why the frost-bitten nations do not every 
winter follow the sun to the south, pouring down 
into these Hesperides as formerly the rough Goths 
and Vandals descended into the sunny plains of 
Italy. 

Come, then, once before you die — come along 
with the migratory birds to the islands of j^erpetual 
serenity, where the great god of day will have a 
chance to melt the icicles out of your beard, and 



320 TO DIXIE ANI) THE TROPICS. 

cure your rheumatism, like a doctor. It will be a 
change for you, my hyperborean friend, second only 
to that of being born again. And do not think that 
you will see snakes here, or centipedes ; do not be 
alarmed by the bugbear of bedbugs ; and don't get 
unduly excited at the thought of a single mosquito 
buzzing at night imder yoi;r curtains, or of a flea or 
two, instead of the good angels keeping watch and 
ward over you while you sleep. My word for it, 
nobody will see snakes here, excepting those jjersons 
who look for them ; and nobody but the most deter- 
mined sight-seers will be shocked at anything much 
worse than the beautiful chameleons, and the lizards, 
which from tree and wall do sometimes curse the 
passing negroes. So, throwing over your head your 
furs and muffler, your mittens and jack boots, your 
two top-coats and umbrella, come down here by the 
" Cunarder " — since Collins and the Yankees have 
gone to the bottom — and, making yourself comfort- 
able in a thin jacket and slippers, get into one of 
these hammocks, slung on the cool side of the piazza, 
and rest yourself, after so many years of pacing up 
and down Broadway, and around the Boston Com- 
mon. 

But as to the tropical Englishman whom you 
have come to see, the most remarkable thing about 
him is that he is an Englishman still. He may be a 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 32 1 

little less red in the face, less heavy in tlie cheeks, 
shrunk a trifle in his calves, and bound about the 
loins "with a somewhat narrower girdle — growing to 
look, in form, just the least bit in the woiid like a 
palm tree. In fact, owing to the greater dryness of 
the climate, the comparative toughness of tropical 
roast beef, and the diminished convenience of the 
ale tap, he has sufibred, in most instances, consider- 
able waste in his adipose cellular tissue ; and his 
muscle has grown less juicy. For the greater j^art 
of the year, "also, he wears linen instead of his natu- 
ral woollen ; and puts, moreover, so much starch into 
it, that his nightcap is sometimes almost as able to 
stand alone, when he goes to bed, as he is ; while his 
sleeping-robe is liable to stalk about his chamber like 
a ghost, whenever the wind blows. The pith hat, 
the Panama, or a straw wound about with fine linen, 
makes here a partial disginse for an Englishman ; as 
do also the morning jacket of white flannel, and 
shoes of white duck. The most careless observer, 
however, when seeing him going the round of fash- 
ionable calls in the tropical midday, dressed in black 
tail-coat and stovepipe, cannot fail of recognizing the 
original John Bull. Besides, he wears his gaiters, 
and leg-of-mutton whiskers. 

Moreover, let the Bahama Englishman dress or 
look as he may, he always regards the mother coun- 
14* 



322 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

try — uot the colony wherein he lives — as his home. 
Although Avell enough pleased, it may be, ^Yith this 
American side of the world, he nevertheless is seized 
every few years with a longing to revisit the other 
and. better one. He must needs recruit his health, 
impaired by the excess of sunshine which nature 
never intended he should be exposed to ; and goes 
back to the English climate, as to the wet sheet 
and vapor bath of the water cure. Parti ciilarly, if a 
N^orth Briton, there is a sort of necessity in his con- 
stitution that he should be well drenched once every 
five or seven years in his native fogs ; nothing suffi- 
cing so effectually as this to dilute his over-thick 
blood, and fill his shrivelled skin again. Tluis the 
visit to the mother country, being the crowning joy 
of the colonist's life — and, in fact, the most fondly 
cherished hope of his heart being, one day, to take 
fortune and family back to the circle of well-remem- 
bered friends left behind in the imperial isle — he is 
no true West Indian. He cannot be said so mucli to 
be transported into the soil of these Bahamas, as to 
be temporarily set out in a pot of it ; so that, at any 
convenient moment, he can easily be removed, and 
take all his roots Avith him. Hence, his colonial in- 
terest is almost entirely personal or official. All his 
public spirit, his patriotism, his national pride, centre 
in Old England. He lias no colonial literal urc, l>ut 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 323 

reads the London Thnes. Living on an islet of 
coral and limestone, in tlie midst of the democratic 
waters of the American ocean, he still maintains the 
spirit and the forms of monarchy, and goes almost 
as gladly to conrt in Government Plonse as ever he 
did to St. James's. The old established institutions 
of neither church nor state are much modified to suit 
his colonial condition ; but, bringmg with him c\cn 
to the New World his ancient true church, he loves, 
on Sundays, to wait for t>vo long hours in a pew, 
though the mercury stand at ninety, while the hier- 
arch, with three colors to his back, prays for sinners, 
and " all the nobility." 

ISTot all the oranges and Avatermelons of the trop- 
ics can alter the Briton's native-born taste for old 
port, sherry, and malt liquors. Tie imports roast 
beef in tin from the mother coimtry, rather than 
order fresh meat in ice from New York ; and buys 
an English plum pudding hermetically sealed, sooner 
than eat one made in the colony. Having attached 
to his house a flower garden, fruit orchard, poultry 
yard, and sometimes a bit of a lawn, he surrounds 
all with a high stone wall, as beyond sea, and bottles 
it. Piazzas he must have to shelter him from the 
sun, as also green goggles to his eyes, and, over his 
head, a blue umbrella ; but he does not need chim- 
neys in his dwelling house, and has left all his coals 



324 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

beliind in Newcastle. A steady tliongli small fire, 
however, lie keeps up in his kitchen ; for the old 
English virtue of hospitality still lives and thrives 
in the Bahamas, where the well-accredited stranger 
finds open doors and groaning tables, being wellnigh 
as welcome as he would formerly have been to Kob- 
inson Crusoe. Lideed, the favored guest might al- 
most be tempted to think that, although the cheeks 
of the Nassauese Englishman grow less and less to 
resemble shaddocks the more he eats them, yet his 
generous, sympathetic disposition does gradually 
secrete some additional sweetness from the tropical 
oranges and sapodillas. I myself have met persons 
here whose hearts ran over with sugary juices pre- 
cisely like their mangoes. Even my shoemaker sent 
me a present of shaddocks, and my shopkeeper over- 
whelmed me with sweet oranges and grape fruit. 

This New Providence, chief island of the Baha- 
mas, and of which the town of Nassau is the capi- 
tal, is only a small paradise, in extent some seven 
miles by twenty. On the side of the capital it has a 
horizon of islands and cays — Rose islands and Silver 
cays — AS'ith white-topped breakers rolling, in rough 
weather, between. Within, the harbor is as green as 
an emerald on a lady's finger ; while the sea beyond, 
blue as lapis lazuli, and si»rinkled Avith bright yellow 
gulf weeds floating on its surface, may bring to 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 325 

mind, liercbance, the beautiful mantle of blue and 
gold which Ca]-lo Dolce has thvowu over the shoul- 
ders of his La Poesia. 

Though a mere calcareous rock, composed of 
corals, shells, madrepores, and various deposits, and 
almost entirely destitute of soil, the island is never- 
theless either tufted with palms, orange, and other 
fruit trees, or overgrown with tangled brushwood, 
J^Tearly everything grows directly out of the rock, 
Avellnigh as great a miracle as when, in sacred times, 
Avater was drawn from it by the rod of Moses. But 
it takes a stone mason to set out a tree here ; and it 
Avill grow all the better for the help of sponges and 
sawdust ; w^hile the farmer may 

" Lay down the shovel and the hoe," 

using, instead, croAvbar, saw, and pickaxe. Still, the 
rock being highly porous as well as soft, the roots 
of trees run freely in all directions below the sur- 
face, and derive sufficient moisture from the reser- 
voir of rain water, which, at the depth of a few 
feet, rests upon the salt water from the sea, rising 
and falling with the latter's daily tides. Every foot 
of the island is covered with verdure ; so great is 
the vegetative power of nature in the tropics, spite 
of the lack of mould. The silk-cotton tree throws 
out its flat buttresses wide enough for the stabling 



320 TO DIXIE AND THE TliOI'ICS. 

of horses, and spreads its branches over an area one 
or two hundred feet in diameter. The cocoa palms 
and the Australian pines overtop the town. Many 
even of the larger trees bear flowers ; while tall 
shrubs of various tropical yarieties — oleanders, wliite, 
red, and pink, the yellow elder, the scarlet hibiscus, 
the white and golden jessamines, the coral flower, 
the plumerias and popinacs — projecting over the 
walls and peeping out of all the gardens, dash with 
bright colors the general green of the landscape. 
The air plant grows luxuriantly out of the rock ; and 
the night-blooming cereus likes to climb a fence or 
gateway, on A\diich it can get plenty of air and light, 
and see the world go by. It also runs up the trunks 
of tall trees, mingling its thick, fleshy leaves with 
the green foliage ; and even scaling the sides of 
houses, it mounts to the chimney top, lifting its head 
above it as exultingly as, in continental Euro2)e, does 
the merry, singing Savoyard. The sandy shores are 
fringed even to the water's edge Avith acacias, hoi)S, 
and sea grapes. The moonlight flower, open at 
night, answers with its pui-e white to the silver light 
from the skies ; and the morning glory is too happy 
to wish to fold itself in sleep before evening. Na- 
ture even preys ujjon herself, from excess of vigor ; 
the wild fig strangling in its embrace the tamarind 
and almond trees ; and the bindweed and the love 



NA&SAU—A WINTER NEWFORT. 327 

vine hanging ujjon the highest branches of the 
groves their heavy drapery of leaves and innumer- 
able filaments. 

But the great charm of the island consists in its 
climate — so mild and soft, the expression in the face 
of your pet kid is not more so. During the season 
of winter, the ordinary range of the thermometer is 
between seventy and eighty degrees of Fahrenheit ; 
the mercury going higher only occasionally, when 
tlie relaxing south wind blows, and not falling lower 
except during the prevalence of the bracing north- 
ers. The atmosphere is almost purely that of the 
ocean — soft, balmy, and having the fragrance of salt 
water in it. It is, in fact, the air of a ship's deck on 
a fine summer morning in the middle latitudes. The 
evenings, luilike those of Havana, are often moist 
with dew ; though the stars shine with all the bril- 
liancy of the winter night at the North, and the 
moonlight is very much brighter. Indeed, the silver 
crescent, when only two days old, brings out the 
shadows ; Avhile the full moon makes the limestone 
streets look as white as if covered with newly fallen 
snow. Day after day the wind blows here only a 
pleasant summer breeze, its pace not exceeding half 
a dozen miles the hour ; though when, once or twice 
a month, the norther comes, he presses on at the rate 
of some twenty pounds to the square foot, makhig 



328 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

all things rattle ; so that, for three nights in succes- 
sion, no man can sleep without " spools " in his win- 
dow shutters. Still, the north wind, in its passage 
over the gulf stream, loses much of the coldness 
which it possesses when, coming across the State of 
Florida, it reaches Havana. It is considered by the 
natives a good tonic — though rather an overdose, I 
thought. 

Bright days, bright nights — tliey are together 
like diamonds strung with pearls. And the tropical 
fruits and flowers correspond with the brilliancy of 
the climate. The town is full of gardens, wherein 
the palm waves and the oleander blooms, and the 
orange hangs out its globes of gold, half liid among 
bridal blossoms. The sapodillas and the mangoes on 
the trees are, like the sands on the seashore, innumer- 
able. The shaddocks grow to great size — as large as 
the heads of small black boys ; and I have made the 
discovery that, if a man will eat a luncheon when he 
does not need any, there is nothing so good for liim 
as grape fruit. Slightly acid, it rather creates an 
appetite than cloys one ; ajid the stomach, after it, 
experiences a sense of gratification as after a glass of 
good Hock or Rudesheimer. Only bcAvai'e of the 
rind ; for the bitter and the sweet lie as near to each 
other in a grape fruit as they do in human life. 

One goes to the tropics, of course, to live in the 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 329 

open air, not to be comfortable in lodgings. So, at 
Nassau, I found but indifferent quarters, with only 
the promise of better ones in the future — a promise 
since happily realized. Yet my attic was an ample 
one ; and of this I am quite sure, never was there so 
happy an attic before. We habitually sat with open 
doors and windows. And these looked to the four 
quarters of the globe ; showing us, on one side, all 
the glories of the Government House, together ^\\t\\ 
the statue of Columbus, jjainted white, and repre- 
senting the great discoverer of these islands in the 
form and attitude of a dashing hidalgo. On another 
side, the view began Avith one of the munerous poul- 
try yards, which till this quiet little town with more 
crowing and cackling, gabbling and gobbling, than 
is to be met with in any other place in Christendom, 
I believe, 'not Sj^anish. It is a peculiarity of the 
Nassauese cocks, that they crow not only at day- 
break, but through all the hours of the night. From 
sundown to the return of day it is a perpetual crow- 
ing, crowing, crowing. The instant any one of 
these feathery watchmen winds his clarion, he is 
answered by all his fellows throughout the town in 
chorus. The youngest chick will not be silent ; nor 
can Bantam suffer himself to be outdone by the 
hoarsest and most guttural Cochin-China, or him of 
Shanghai. For Avhat earthly purpose are so many 



,^30 '^'O DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

cocks kept here ? grumbliugly asks tlie stranger, 
who, the first night after his arrival, tries in vain to 
sleep in such a rookery ; or who, dozmg in the small 
hours, facetiously dreams that the moral little town 
is full of secret cockpits, wherein, on Sundays, the 
good people clandestinely fight their birds between 
the religious services. 

On still another side, our windows look toward 
the west, over orchards of bananas, oranges, and 
lemons, over gardens of climbing roses, jessamines, 
and oleanders, over pines and royal palms, toward 
the bright green harbor and the sea. 

But the eastern window pleased me most of all, 
because from that I saw the sunrise. And know 
that this is a climate which forces, at least, all the 
lovers of nature out of bed before sunrise, simply 
by means of the beauty of the mornings, whicli, 
even in Avinter, open precisely like our Northern 
Jime roses. At this early hour I go to the shore for 
my bath ; plunging into the pure, transparent water 
just at the moment when the sunrise is scattermg its 
rose leaves over the surface. The deej) sea water is 
like molten glass — for the moment turned Bohemian. 
Then, during the space of five blissful minutes, how 
lustily do I pull the old god Neptune by the beard ; 
or more gently i)lay with the tangles of some 
Naiad's hair ! And all these marine divinities could 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 331 

testify that most gladly "would I swim in tliu tepid 
waves from one Bahama to another — but for the 
sharks ! These monsters give me pause. For, dur- 
ing my stay at Nassau, one of them swallowed his 
Jonah — a black man — and was found, after capture, 
to have digested the whole of him, excepting one 
hand, and his rum bottle. D)"eadful ! 

However, tlie bathing houses offer their protec- 
tion to the timid, or the more cautious ; and on com- 
ing out of them, even, one feels regenerate, and as 
newborn as the day. 

The winter midday, as well as the morning, is 
very fine here. The prevailing wind, at that time of 
day, is the trade, blowiug pleasantly from the east ; 
and such a breeze as in our sumiiest May days at the 
North gently tosses the flowering tops of tlie ap])le 
orchards ; or, in full-blown June, trips it lightly 
through the rose gardens ; which makes the fragrant 
clover heads dance and nod to each other in the 
fields ; and covers the growing meadows with rip- 
pling, grassy waves. At the noontide there is often 
not a cloud in the heavens, excejDting the Avhite can- 
vas of shijis' sails on the horizon, or in the harbor. 
The tropical sunliglit gilds with leaf of gold the 
limestone streets, or paves them with the dark 
shadows of ti*ees and houses. In the brilliant rays 
the facades of Avhite marble buildings shine like bur- 



332 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

nished silver. And yet, though strongly marked the 
contrast between the lights and shadoAvs of the 
town, how soft are the gradations of color where the 
verdant shore blends with the sea-green of the sur- 
rounding waves, and where the indigo-blue of the 
distant ocean passes without any distinct line of se2)a- 
ration mto the blue of the empyrean. 

At this idle hour of the day I liked, sitting at the 
western window of my chamber, to look out u^^on a 
palm tree standing near by, which I selected from all 
other palms I had ever seen for my favorite. It is of 
the cocoanut variety, tall, and leaning gracefully — 
such an one as the wdld Arab loves to call his bride. 
The tree seems almost a living form, animate with 
sense and feeling, and to stand there, its branches 
waving, and its leaves quivering in an ecstasy of 
delight. It aj^pears to be enamored of the sun, 
toward which it aspires. It basks in the unclouded 
rays, like the black man lying asleep at its foot ; and, 
like him, joyfully absorbs the midday heat. And as 
the sea breeze comes and goes, now lifting the 
branches gently aloft, and noAV letting them grace- 
fully droop again, Avith Avhat an exj)ression of glad- 
ness the pahntop receives these soft caresses, toying 
and gambolling with the wind ! The branches seem 
also at play w^ith each other ; harmoniously swaying 
to and fro, the topmost bending slightly, and the 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 333 

lower ones swinging themselves through wider 
curves, and with a more deeply impassioned motion. 
Surely, with such grace does a Venus move her limbs 
when she comes newborn out of the foamy waves ; 
and so dance upon the stage the lithesome Spanish 
girls of Grenada, and the gypsies of Seville. 

But the cuisine ! Upon what food does a man 
live ia such a clime, and on such an enchanted 
island ? Does he, like the first of men and women, 
subsist on the fair fruits — on mere orange juices — on 
the perfume of his finger glass, scented, one day, 
with the green leaf of a lime, and, the next, with 
one of a pimento ? Kot qviite so. But, to tell the 
truth, though the mutton will do for food, the beef 
is not succulent. It is, in fact, a little tough, and 
requires, in order to be masticated, to have been 
previously well papaiced. " For the juice of the 
papaw," says Soyer, " makes meat tender, by causing 
a separation of its muscular fibres." Some of the 
more elderly chickens, also, will test the sharjmess of 
the carving knife, as well as the power of a man's 
jaws, imless a pretty stiff dose of vinegar be poured 
down their throats just before their heads are cut off. 
Poor things ! this must be the first ; and the axe, tlie 
second death to them ! 

Accordingly, the stranger will find himself under 
the necessity of eating turtle twice a week here. 



334 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

He can liuvc turtle soup, turtle stewod ; but the 
great dish of the island, and chief glory of the 
" conch " kitchen, is haked turtle. A small monster 
of about tAventy-five pounds' weight is a good size ; 
unless, indeed, you happen to be an alderman, in 
which case forty pounds Avould not be too much. 
He is broiight to table in his own shell, Avhich stands 
well up before you, and makes an ample platter. In 
its depths lie imbedded all the choice pieces. The 
fat and lean bits lie side by side ; the eggs hug the 
liver ; while the whole mass is moist with a delicious 
gravy, made of the juice of the animal, and hot with 
infinitesimal red peppers, each particle of which is 
endowed with a sting like that of the honey bee. 
An open space in the middle of tlie crust — for this 
great mystery of cidinary art has a broad covering 
of paste avoimd its entire edge — an open space, I 
say, in the crust, like heaven's gate standing ajar, 
enables you to got a peep at the feast of good things 
within, the moment it is set before you. Far off, 
too, the nostril anticipates the coming of baked tur- 
tle ; for the whole atmosphere of the place is at once 
perfumed with the subtle essence and aroma of the 
dish ; the very winds of heaven struggling to bear 
some of it off to their own caves. 

After baked turtle, no Christian wishes to cat 
pudding. But if compelled to dine on a Nassauese 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 335 

beefsteak, one is certainly entitled to nothing less 
than either cocoanut pudding or banana fritters ; and 
if he do not get the one or the other, he should con- 
sider himself robbed by his landlady. 

In any event, you will drink a glass of imcona- 
raonly nice sherry with your turtle ; for it is well 
known that this animal cannot ci-awl nor stir a fin in 
good sherry. I should have some hesitation, how- 
ever, in recommending any one to adopt the local 
fashion of letting rum punch follow the soup. But 
no one should fall into the mistake of refusing, 
whether after turtle or anything else, the profiered 
glass of Madeira, known as the " Water Lily " — a 
wrecked wine, and named after the very unfortunate 
vessel in which it was cast away on these shores. 
The delicious sack had been sent to the West Indies 
for its health ; and some of the casks bore, as I have 
been told, the names of venerable and right rcA- 
erend English prelates, men supposed to know how 
to select good liquor. Alas for them ! The only 
dash of bitter in the glass, whenever it was my 
good fortune to taste this juice of the grape, was the 
regret — impossible to repress it — that such good men 
shoidd providentially have been cut off from the 
privilege of anointing their palates with so precious 
an oil of joy. For the wine is excellent, and must 
have received all the benefit from being sent to sea 



336 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

which its intelligent owners had anticipated for it. 
Well may the Nassauese, in describing this beverage, 
so fortunately rescued from the waves, speak of it 
with brightening face and uplifted eyelids, as more 
rainlike than rain water, more dry than the tropic 
Cancer, and yet more luscious than the grapes of 
Malaga or Muscat — the very aroma of aromas. 

So you see this Bahama is what the Chinese 
would call a " little heaven." But you must know 
that three quarters of the saints are blacks. Seated 
on my piazza, morning and evening, when they go 
by on their way to and from the market, I have seen 
the street darkened with the number of them, and 
the tropical day almost put out as by an eclipse. 
They go by, many of them with tattooed, gashed 
faces, horizontal nostrils, and hair braided into rams' 
horns and corkscrews ; nearly all possessing healthy, 
athletic forms, though not very heavily covered with 
muscle ; all with the same loose, shuffling gait, as if 
their bodies were jelly, and going to j^ieces ; with 
speech often resembling a kind of articulate grunt- 
ing, and even their best English sounding a little like 
Congo. Up to the age of puberty the children are 
remarkably thin-limbed ; and many of the smaller 
ones, Jiaving no other garment than a shirt, look like 
a large species of grasshoppers, and very much as 
did the children of Israel in the presence of the 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 337 

giunts, the sons of Anak, who came of tlie giauts. 
But, with the exception of one noted old beggar in 
sackcloth, these blacks dress us decently as do the 
lower class of whites in hot countries. Their gar- 
ments are not often washed, nor always taken oft' at 
night ; and most of the women have the habit of 
Avearing their dresses very carelessly put on. Though 
many of the females cover their heads with turbans, 
and a hat besides, they are inclined to go barefoot, in 
spite of tlie " jiggers ; " and hence the old song, 

" Jiggery foot, jump in the air — 
A bottle of wiuc, and a bottle of beer," etc. 

But, on Sunday, every negro who goes to church 
comes fresh out of his bandbox ; and he who, 
through the week, had worn a palmetto hat, price 
two cents and a half, will don a bearer, or a sky-blue 
cotton ; and he who had worn nothing but a ker- 
chief, will carefully protect his head from the sun 
under a lamily umbrella. Perhaps it is natural that 
the head should receive special attention, when it 
bears all the bitrdens ; for there is nothing, from an 
empty barrel to a bottle of champagne, which is not 
so carried. I have seen a letter taken to the post on 
the head, Avith a small stone laid above it to keeji it 
from blowing away ; and, on the other hand, I have 
beheld negroes coming into town surmounted with as 



338 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

heavy a load of greeu corn blades as may be seen 
enveloping to tlieir feet the Cuban donkeys which 
bring fodder into Havana. Everything goes natu- 
rally with them to the occiput ; and there, too, not 
on the back of her head, does the ebony belle, on 
Sundays, stick the gay little bonnet of present 
fashion. 

The Bahama blacks are generally well behaved 
and good natured. Their disposition is mild, passive, 
tractable ; and, though often crossed with the Eng- 
lish, they appear not to have a single hair of the 
bulldog on them. They rarely fight with each other, 
except in words ; are not fond of fisticuffs, nor given 
to sedition ; but, most of the time, have their mouths 
full of chat, laughter, and sugar cane. When meet- 
ing in the street or highway, they often converse 
together without stopping — both contmuing on their 
way, while they exchange their jest and laugh, and 
neither turning their head. The commission of hein- 
o\\& crimes — the deed of blood and daring — does not 
comport with a character so soft and timid ; but for 
petty theft, and all manner of lying, they have an 
extraordinary aptitude. Too many of them, I am 
sorry to say, are untrustworthy and unreliable. Ca- 
pable, often, of strong personal attachments to the 
whites, when they have been long in their service, 
they arc nevertlieless, with exceptions, ungrateful, 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 339 

and forgetful of benefits. Tliey pay comparatively 
little attention to the minor morals, and not too mucli 
to tLe major. Especially is the relation of the sexes 
badly regulated among them. 

Yet this much can be said in their favor, that 
their faults of character and conduct do not spring 
from malice or uncharitableness, but rather from 
their heedless, thoughtless disposition, their natural 
indolence, and their habits of present self-gratifica- 
tion. Fond of the good things of life, they take 
scarcely more thought for the morrow than many of 
the brutes. So, in their speech, they never make use 
of the past or future tenses of verbs, but only of Ihe 
present. Most of them are capable, if not of ■wear- 
ing all they possess on their backs, at least, of letting 
it all go down their throats at a single feast, and 
never thiuk it any sin to run in debt to whoever may 
be imprudent enough to trust them. 

Of all things, they do not like steady, hard wc».'k ; 
and are not to be depended upon, therefore, for the 
carrying out of any large plan of active industry, or 
for securing a certain return of interest on any great 
investment of capital. They prefer odd jobs, as 
labor abou.t the streets and wharves, or situations of 
easy service, or to catcli fish, or to go on short trips 
in the wrecking vessels. Generally, avIicu they get a 
few shillings together in their pockets, they lose all 



340 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

appetite for further toil until they have spent them. 
All their salvage «iioney goes to the shopkeepers to 
pay old debts. Of the savings bank they make little 
use, but rely rather on their fishing banks, which fur- 
nish the greater part of their sustenance. 

In general, it may be said of the Bahamian 
blacks, that they are as much inferior to their breth- 
ren in the " States," both moi'ally and intellectually, 
as the climate of the tropics is hotter, and the fruit- 
fulness of nature therein is more spontaneous than in 
our own. Although they have now been free for a 
quarter of a century, and, during this period, have 
enjoyed the superior advantages of English tuition 
and example, yet their improvement, whether intel- 
lectual, moral, or physical, has not been very great. 
I should say that, if the amount of white blood 
which has passed into their veins could be estimated, 
it would be foimd to be a tolerably exact measure of 
their progress. This, to be sure, is somethmg ; for 
the English have done considerable toward whitening 
the skin of the black population, and have straight- 
ened a good many heads of hair — with the help of 
pomatmai. 

The native Africans who, a few years since, Avcre 
transferred to the island from slave ships captured at 
sea, are more industrious, and, perhaps, superior in 
morals, if inferior intellectually, to the Creole blacks 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 341 

formerly held in bondage. It is true that the chil- 
dren of the latter have acquired, in free schools, the 
rudiments of an English education, and that a few 
of them display, upon examination, as much clever- 
ness as the young whites. Still it must be observed, 
that it is the faculty of memory, chiefly, which is de- 
veloped by this early traming, and that, the age 
of puberty once passed, the Africo-Bahaman mind 
appears to make but comparatively little further 
progress. 

Of the purely abstract ideas, these tropical Afri- 
cans, almost without exception, seem to have but an 
imperfect and dim apprehension. Even so simple an 
one as that of time they do not appear to conceive 
of with any considerable degree of clearness. When 
asked in what month of the year the different fruits 
of the island are in season, they can rarely give a 
precise answer ; and I was informed by the son of 
an aged black woman, when I inquired the niimber 
of her years, that it was one hundred and sixty. A 
straight line, also, bothers them. I was told of a 
black gardener here, who could not be taught accu- 
rately to lay out his paths and spaces at right angles. 

" This corner of the house is nearly a foot too 
high," once said a Nassauese gentleman to the mason 
who was erecting its walls. • 

" Oh .*' yas," was the reply ; " dat massa say bery 
true ; but folks isn't goin' to notice it." 



342 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

" And tlie doors and windows," continued the 
proprietor, " are not quite opposite to each other." 
" Well, yas — if massa will be so bery partic'ler." 
In this difliculty of mastering a straight line, by 
the way, the inferiority of the negro to the lowest 
class of Irishmen is noticeable. For if you ask Pat- 
rick, in the tropics or out of them, what he consid- 
ers to be the prettiest thing in the world, he will in- 
variably make answer : 

" An' shure, yer honor, 'tis a straight ditch ! " 
But the Bahama blacks are a healthy, prolific race. 
Out of four persons you meet in the streets of Nas- 
sau, three, at least, are blacks, or mulattoes. In 
church, one sits quite surroimded by his colored 
brethren and sisters ; the whole congregation pre- 
senting a pepper-and-salt aspect. So, in places of 
both public and private entertainment, the imperti- 
nent question will often spring i;p in the mind of the 
stranger — like the roguish head of a truant child 
thrust through a half-open door — " Has not this esti- 
mable gentleman with whom I am so pleasantly con- 
versing, or this most amiable lady, the line down the 
back slightly discolored ? " 

In the polite circles of society in the Bahamas 
there is a prejudice against the black or mixed color 
still prevailing, which sm'prises one, considering the 
liberal views entertained by English philanthropists 



N'ASSAU—A WINTER NEWPORT. 343 

in the mother country on this subject. But, in jus- 
tice to the class of mulattoes, I feel bound to add, 
that I met, at Nassau, persons belonging to it whose 
intelligence, good character, and polite manners made 
them the peers of v/hite men, whether there or in 
any other country. 

It would be idle to speculate about the future 
destiny of the African race in the American tropics ; 
or to conjecture whether, on the one hand, it is 
likely, after emancipation, to relapse into barbarism ; 
or whether, on the other, after it shall have existed 
as long in these comitries as did the Saxons in the 
woods of Germany, it may finally develop a new and 
original form of civilization. But one may, at least, 
divine enough of the immediate future of the Baha- 
mas, to come to the conclusion that, in the natural 
increase of their black and colored j)opulation, it 
must soon crowed hard upon the whites, and gradxi- 
ally drive them out. They Avill either voluntarily 
take leave, or be sent away against their will, as for- 
merly were the French from Hayti. Already the 
African element is so strong in some of the Bahamas 
— as, for example, in St. Salvador, Bahama, Andros, 
and Long Island — that, in spite of great natural ad- 
vantages of soil and climate, white men begin to be 
reluctant to cast their lot there. And why, indeed, 
must not the same become true, at no very distant 



344 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

epoch, of all the West Indian islands ? For, while 
the free African thrives in these tropics like a 
green hay tree, and willows by the watercourses,. the 
Anglo-Saxon, and even the Spaniard, is a sickly 
exotic. 

Time, unquestionably, will show it to be a law of 
nature, that in lands where the Avhite man cannot 
sow, neither shall he reap ; where he cannot himself 
labor, he shall not permanently dwell. So long, of 
course, as, by superior force and intelligence, he can 
retain the black men in bondage, or state of depend- 
ence, and make them perform the labor of sowing 
and reaping in his stead, so long he may hold the 
islands of the tropics ; but not much longer. 

I have before observed, that the Bahama blacks 
derive a jjortion of their suj^port from the business 
of wrecking. The number of persons of all colors 
so engaged is between three and four thousand, and 
that of their vessels from two to three hundred. 
They are required by law to save life before j^rop- 
erty ; and this they always do, as I am informed. 
The cargo to be rescued being often more or less 
imder water, it is necessary that the sailors be also 
good di\'crs, able to descend to the depth of even 
thirty or forty feet, and make bales of goods fast to 
tackle. The salvage of a single ship sometimes 
amoimts to fifty thousand dollars, or upward, which 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 345 

is distributed one half to the captain and owners of 
the vessel, and the other to the officers and crew. 
Sometimes a considerable portion of a shipwi'ecked 
cargo is saved dry ; bnt a great many boxes and 
packages get damaged, not only through fault of the 
waves, but also from being rudely opened, for the 
purpose of enabling the wrecker to judge whether 
they will yield a high rate of salvage. For the cap- 
tains who arrive first at a wreck naturally desire to 
load, each his own vessel, Avith the most valuable 
part of the cargo. 

In such a small, isolated town as Nassau, a little 
excitement goes, of course, a great way. So, when 
the fleet of returning wrecking vessels is seen com- 
ing into port with white flags flying, the little place 
is set all agog. Half the population stand, for the 
moment, on the tiptoe of expectation ; the shopkeep- 
ers' heads stiflening like bristles, and the negroes' 
wool half micurling from excitement. 

" O Lord, massa ! " said to me one of the latter, 
quite dancing with delight, and threatening to spit 
out all his ivory, as he pointed to the white schoon- 
ers ploughing into the bright green harbor, " O Lord, 
massa ! dere cum de rackers — full of drygood, silk 
stocking — eberyting ! " 

A wreck is a misfortime, of course, and great dis- 

appomtment to somebody ; but it makes a very pleas- 

15* 



346 T^ DIXIE ANB THE TROPICS. 

ant holiday for tlie good people of Nassau. During 
my visit, there was a sale of an assorted cargo of 
drygoods, too much damaged to be forwarded to its 
port of destination. And never was such confusion 
seen before in mortal aifairs, as in these rescued bales 
and boxes. All around the spacious yards of the 
consignee there were piles, a dozen feet high, of cot- 
tons, calicoes, muslins, linens, and flannels, all as full 
of salt water as ever was a sailor of grog and to- 
bacco juice. Wet figs lay in juxtaposition with wet 
fire-crackers. Reams of tinted paper were deposited 
side by side with boxes of fine lace, tubs of mack- 
erel, and barrels of yeast ; the latter facetiously 
marked, in conspicuous letters, " Keep this dry." It 
was a scene of complete pellmell, with buyers going 
here and there in a high state of agitation, and ne- 
groes, who never could be made to lay out their 
strength before, now all in a lather. 

The goods once distributed among the merchants, 
their shop doors and windows v\'ere festooned with 
cotton and woollen fabrics, which, hanging down to 
the sidewalk, were trodden under foot by the crowd 
of black and white i^urchasers. Even the sides of 
several of the streets and lanes were covered Avith 
wet goods, spread out to dry in the sun ; fences and 
trees were hung with them ; and the very roofs of 
the houses fluttered with nnislins. 



NASSAU— A WINTER NEWPORT. 347 

Truly, .to enjoy a wreck, one must come to Nas- 
sau. 

The white-stone days, it may be added, on which 
the fleet of wreckers sails into the harbor, have but 
one holiday in all the Nassauese year to rival them ; 
and that is the one wherein occurs the august cere- 
mony of the opening of the Bahama Parliament. 
Flags are then hoisted, guns fired, and the regiment 
of blacks mustered ; while the band plays the na- 
tional anthem, and other airs patriotic. Meanwhile, 
the Governor, having come down to the House in 
sword and epaulettes, the sergeant-at-arms holds 
aloft his mace, and brings up the honorable members 
of the House of Assembly into the presence of His 
Excellency. Thei'eupon the latter proceeds, sitting 
in his chair of state, and with his plumed hat on, to 
read to them, together with the gentlemen of the 
Privy Coimcil, his gubernatorial speech. The honor- 
ables of the House stand during the ceremony, all in 
respectful tail coats ; while the honorables of the 
Coimcil sit during the same, clad in coats of blue 
broadcloth, set off with gilded buttons and linings of 
white silk, and matched with buff waistcoats. The 
reverend clergy occupy a corner of the scene, arrayed 
in black silk gowns ; some havmg their hoods lined 
with scarlet, and some bordered with white down. 
But most conspicuous stands among them the chief 



348 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

prelate, sporting his doctor's cap and gown of flam- 
ing red, edged Avith black velvet ; and having his 
under j^erson set out in silk stockings and short 
clothes. Over against the men of God are seen 
grouped together the men of war — red coats aU, 
spurred, also, and sworded, and some of them having 
their breasts decked ;\vith ribbons and crosses. Nor 
does the fair sex fail of being present ; the roses in 
their hats, if not their cheeks, vying with the crim- 
son of the priests and soldiers, and the unusual red 
in the face of some of the princij^al actors in the 
ceremony. Without the railing, however, hangs a 
cloud of dusky sj^ectators, negroes and mezzotints ; 
while one or two curly heads may, perchance, be 
noticed on the shoulders of the honorable members 
of the House of Assembly. 

On the whole, this must be pronounced a very 
brilliant and high-colored scene, in miniature ; and as 
thoroughly English as anything to be witnessed in 
Westminster Hall, or the Houses of Parliament. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

/Santa Cruz and its Freedmeii. 

IN my search about the world for fine days, I 
thought that I had found the finest at Nassau ; 
but I Avas compelled to change my mind after reach- 
ing Santa Cruz. The clunate of this latter island is 
both dryer and more constant than that of the Baha- 
mas. One may even spend the entire Avinter here 
without once encoimtering Avhat, at the North, is 
called bad Aveather. There may be no storms ; no 
entirely clouded skies ; no rains, excepting shoAA'ers ; 
no winds, excepting the northeast trades. The island 
being destitute of high mountains or forests, the 
clouds are not detained on their courses by this speck 
of land ; and one half the rain to Avhich it is fairly 
entitled is draAA^ over to the Well-Avooded mountain 
sides of its neighboi", Porto Rico, lying to leeAvard. 
Moreover, the rain descending in occasional shoAvers, 
is immediately absorbed by the thirsty ground ; 



350 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

while the dews of niglit are gone almost before the 
moriiiug. The range of the thermometer, during the 
Avinter months, is between seventy and eighty de- 
grees of Fahrenheit. The stranger, judging of the 
state of the atmosphere by his sensations, notices, at 
this season, very little change from day to day ; but 
the Creole constitution, on the other hand, is sensi- 
tive to the slightest variations. The north wind, 
which the New Euglander finds pleasantly bracing, 
brings colds, followed by mild attacks of chills and 
fever, to the natives. The negro now sleeps by night 
in a cabin as hermetically sealed as cracks and cran- 
nies will i^ermit. The air within is never too thick 
for him ; and he fears a draught of night wind as 
much as if he were a Frenchman. The whites, how- 
ever, always sleep with cither doors or windows 
open. And, \ai\\ very few exceptions, they wear 
woollen clothes m winter, together with flannel next 
the skin. For, say they, we cannot move in this cli- 
mate without getting into a state of persj)iration ; 
and we cannot stand still without being in a current 
of air. Hence, linen is worn outside, if worn at all, 
and wool beneath it. But the stranger in full health 
may dress differently ; and, for my part, I found 
myself never so comfortable as when clad in a com- 
plete suit of liglit flannel, without imder-dress of any 
kind — excepting a cotton shirt. IMy linen trunk 
proved to be a ponderous superfluity. 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEBMEN. 351 

Quarantined by forty miles of ocean, this solitary 
island is rarely visited by epidemics. The cholera 
did not come here when formerly ravaging the West 
Indies ; and though, in unhealthy seasons, there may 
be a few isolated cases of yellow fever, this disease 
does not prevail as in Cuba and Jamaica. The 
robust appearance of the native population is suffi- 
cient proof of the salubrity of the climate ; and — 
what is remarkable — in the hotter part of the year the 
public health stands the highest. The men, esi^e- 
cially, are neither sallow in complexion nor spare of 
flesh ; but have, on the contrary, the glow of health 
in their faces, and are well covered with hard muscle. 
The climate agrees with both men and wine — makes 
good blood and good Madeira. 

Yet the unacclimated invalid should not stand too 
much in the sun. Let him at all hours, excepting the 
early morning and evening, keep an umbrella over 
his head, or a carriage top, or the roof of a house. 
His physician, probably, will have sent him to Santa 
Cruz to live out of doors ; but, vv'ith doors and win- 
dows always ojDen, it is out-of-door life here in the 
house. Let the sick man rather beware of too much 
exercise in the open air — at least, for the first month 
or two ; let him keep himself much more quiet than 
he would at the North ; for, if he do not over- 
fatigue himself, nor qpmmit imprudences, the mere 



352 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

breathing of tLe salubrious air will cure liini — pro- 
vided be be not past cure. In former winters there 
Avere hundreds of valetudinarians from the North in 
Santa Cruz, where there are now dozens. They have 
been enticed away to places in the South less favor- 
able to their recovery, by the facilities of railroads 
and steamshijjs. They have not patience enough for 
the slow sailing vessels. Made restless by disease, 
they prefer going to ports which they can Avith more 
ease get away from, as well as where they can re- 
ceive more regularly advices from the home which 
they are all so apt to yearn for. 

Well — it is a long voyage from New York to 
Santa Cruz. Eight days may, indeed, suffice for it ; 
but, more likely, the good ship will take sixteen. Nor 
are there any regular packets. Generally, one can 
come only by sailing vessel to Saint Thomas, or by 
steamer to Saint Thomas, via Havana or Bermuda. 
Then remains the trip of forty miles across to this 
island in a small schooner, having state rooms on 
deck, fitly yclept doghouses. But do not be dis- 
couraged. If the invalid have only strength enough 
to get to the end of the journey, and also good ac- 
commodations secured in advance, his chance of 
recovery Avill be greater here than in most of the 
other islands. 

Yet the stranger wlio com^s to pass the winter in 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 353 

Santa Cruz will do well to bring all his resources for 
killing time along Avith him. For the days are long 
and sunny ; and there are no libraries, or bookshops, 
or magazines, or daily newspapers. The glorious sun 
is intent on ripening the sugar canes, and not on 
looking about Santa Cruz for poets or philosojihers. 
The monotony of the livelong day may occasionally 
be broken by a morning call, or onatinee, or birthday 
party. Once a month there may be pigeon shooting ; 
and, once in the season, horse racing. Persons prop- 
erly introduced into society will now and then be 
asked to dinners, balls, and parties. But riding and 
driving will be found to be far more ingenious invcn- 
tions for whiling the time away ; the roads being the 
best in America — smooth, hard, and free from dust. 
After getting acclimated, horses from the North 
thrive Avell here ; while the native animals are both 
fleet and hardy, and will carry you, under the saddle, 
at a good round pace as carefully as if you were 
eggs. Their gait is the perfection of equine grace 
and rhythm. 

For my part, while I preferred the evening hour 
for climbing, on horseback, the hills to " Punch " and 
" Mt. Victory," through the romantic ravine of Crai- 
crai, shaded by Thibet and mahogany trees, skirted 
by ipecacuanha, hybiscus, cactus, and fragrant log- 
wood hedges, and draped by every variety of tropi- 



354 TO DIXIE AND THE TROFICS. 

cal trailing plants, flower-bearing parasites, and moss- 
es and creepers, half pendent from the overhanging 
precipices — the path winding gradually up out of the 
solemn gloom of the deep dell into the brilliant blue 
of the hilltop sky — I preferred, decidedly, the mid- 
day for carriage exercise. In the very brightness of 
the noontide "we used to sally forth, two ponies in 
hand ; and the eager animals apparently as much in 
love with the sun as ourselves ; for aAvay they flew 
over the smooth road, drinking in the eastern ti'ade 
wind with distended nostrils, their long tails floating 
behind, their beating hoofs resounding like the waves 
of the beach by the side of which they trotted, and 
not more heated by the sun than cooled by the sea 
breeze. Protected by the carriage top from the 
direct rays of the great luminary in the zenith, and 
fanned by the soft airs w^hich were invited in by the 
curtains rolled up on all sides, we found this rapid 
rolling over the road, at noon, a more delectable 
combination of the hot and the cold than the sitting 
in any summer cave or forest shade — more delicious 
than ices vmder the reign of the dog star, or cham- 
pagne out of the cooler. And, indeed, the intoxica- 
tion of the motion was as great as from mild wine. 
Wq were intoxicated with delight. The ponies, out- 
flying the flies, were not stung by them ; what little 
dust miGfht have been raised on the hard road was 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREED 3IEN. 355 

left behind. The hidies had no fans, nor any shawls 
but scarfs, and ribbons fluttering. We looked out, 
ou one side, upon the indigo sea, sometimes almost 
feeling the spray from its long-drawn waves break- 
ing on the shore ; and, on the other, upon lines of 
palms and groves of sugar cane. The little black 
children leaped out of the road, and threw up their 
caps, and opened on us their batteries of laughing 
ivory as we i:)assed. The market women turned 
aside their " emancipation carts " far ahead, on hear- 
ing the coming rattling ; and the men from the 
sugar fields — their ponies' sides projecting wide with 
their load of canes — carefully drcAV them almost into 
the gutter, in order to let the hurrying wheels go by. 
Did we not also hang out orange boughs from the 
carriage sides ? And did we not bring home under 
the seats the big yellow shaddocks and grape fruit, 
more delicate to the taste than oranges ? And had 
we not baskets stuffed with sapodillas and sugar 
apples ? And did we not come back, too, with nuts 
in our cheeks, like monkeys, and no small part of the 
juices and the aroma of the tropics on lips and 
tongue ? Of course we did. 

And the ponies, likewise, fared well after such 
stretching of their legs. For their aged friend tied 
them imdcr the cool India-rubber and frangipanui 
trees, without any fear of rheumatism before his 



356 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

eyes ; aud gave them big, succulent lieajDS of green 
corn blades, or the still sweeter leaves of the sugar 
cane. Doubtless they liked, too, the scent of the 
frangipanni. 

Occasionally, the object of our noonday drives 
was to attend parties given by daylight. For here 
tlie custom is to give entertainments not only by 
night, but more frequently during the solid hours of 
sunshine — especially when ladies are to be present. 
The distances between the estates are, of com-se, 
considerable ; so that the guests have to make a 
journey often of half a dozen miles or more. And 
though gentlemen, with or Avithout a blanket over 
their shoulders, and perhaps the friendly company of 
a cigar, do not object, after having dined together at 
six o'clock, to a rapid drive across the island at mid- 
night, ladies, Avho in this as in so many other things 
are more sensible, j^i'efer the lively morning hours 
for such excursions. Tliey are always ready fo]- a 
dance by the light of the sun, and in spite of him. 
They are never too warm in dancing. The trade 
wind is their fan. They stand tiptoe as easily as a 
New Englander walks on his heels. And it Avould 
seem as though the hotter the climate, the more sat- 
isfactory was the pastime — -just as the tropical gen- 
tlemen say that the hotter tlie day, the more rmn 
goes into the punch. 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREELMEN. 357 

Certain it is, the exercise puts the palates of all 
into a proper mood for receiving the cokl turkey, or 
the hot guinea fowl of the luncheon. And perhaps 
few persons suspect what a jewel of a bird the tropi- 
cal guinea fowl is, w^hen, deprived of its voice, it 
appears on the table — for, if it still retained its pre- 
ternatural screech, I think no one could eat it. The 
heat of an island so near the snn is always a good 
excuse for thirst. Accordmgly, if you tliink the cli- 
mate does not agree wdth the thin wines, you need 
not have any fear of swallowing a single glass of old 
sherry, or Madeira, after the guinea fowl. You might 
not drink it at the North for a variety of reasons ; 
but here it is absolutely cooling to the blood ; it 
gives great powers of resistance against the South- 
ern heat ; and your footing in the dance will be all 
the lighter for it. Neither disdain the sweetmeats. 
They will agree with your constitution as well as, at 
the North, do sourkrout and pickles. Sugar would 
seem here to acquire, by some gastric mystery of 
fermentation, the strengthening properties of alco- 
hol ; so that the more you eat of it, the more yon 
partake of the nature of a lion with honey in his 
belly. 

But, fasting or feasting, you must dance. For 
see how frantically Sambo's head is nodding with all 
its wool on it ; and with what comic grimaces — his 



358 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

mouth a gasli from car to ear — he draws the fiddle 
bow ! Old and young join in the graceful mazes. 
Meanwhile, buds of roses bloom on the maidens' 
breasts ; and the delicate blossoms and fair leaves of 
noyau wa*eaths encircle their brows. Is it the scent 
of white jessamines, whiter for the contrast with the 
raven hair, which so pleasantly perfumes the summer 
breeze ? Or do these sweets float in through the 
windows, thus gracefully latticed by passion-flower 
vines, from the lilies and the daturas, the oleanders 
and the fragrant cedars of the garden ? Dance 
while the day lasts ; for in the sunny courtyard a 
score of little darkeys are industriously improving 
the music, which sounds none the less sweet to their 
sun-burnt ears for passing through the open doors 
and windows ; and are pirouetting, and knocking 
their naked heels, and crooking their elbows, until 
the perspiration runs down their fiices like cane juice 
from the cylinders — literally enjoying their fun in 
the sweat of their brows, and laboring as if they 
thought every waltz and cotillon were a regular 
"breakdown." The merry fellows would be sorry 
to stop as long as they can have the sun to shine on 
them. So dance on. 

" Juclilic ! Juelilic ! 
Juchheisa ! Heisa ! He ! 
So ariiifr der Fiedelbojrcn." 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEBMEN. 359 

In the days of slavery, this island of the Holy 
Cross was called the Garden of the West Indies ; 
and, though now partaking somewhat of the nature 
of a paradise lost, it remains . still one of the most 
beautiful spots in the tropics. Riding, one after- 
noon, with a pleasant jDarty of friends, to the top of 
the Bodkin — a height of a thousand feet or moi'e — I 
thought the jDrospect one of the most lovely I had 
ever seen in any country. The hills, valleys, and 
plains upon which I looked down were nearly all 
green with sugar canes. On one side, the hills, 
round topped, and most gracefully curved, rolled 
away like the waves of a sea of emerald ; on the 
other, stretched oif toAvard a range of hills to the 
eastward, a broad plain of the greatest fertility, com- 
pletely cane-covered, and dotted over with a large 
number of bright-colored plantations. These, having 
each one tall white chimney, resembled, in the dis- 
tance, the small villages of the South of Europe, 
overtopped by spires. The windmills, too, on the 
lower summits, had a picturesque effect ; while many 
dismantled ones might remind the traveller of the 
ruined towers which overhang the Rhine and the 
Danube. The prospect all around us was beautiful ; 
but our hearts were almost too gay ; for one of the 
company, having cut a bough from an orange tree 
full of fruit, and borne it in triumph to the summit, 



3 GO TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

I remember that our lips were running over -svitli 
most delicious orange juice, at the same time our 
eyes were running over with delight in the beauty of 
the landscape. 

The house in which I Avas so fortunate as to stay 
during my visit to the island, stood midway on a 
hillside covered with green canes, and sloping grace- 
fully to the sea shore. It was therefore convenient 
both for the morning bath and the afternoon ride on 
the heiglits. Convenient, also, was it for seeing the 
sun go down in the sea ; for the horizon of waters 
compassed, at this point, almost an entire semicircle. 
We found excellent companionship in the mild, tropi- 
cal ocean, the waves of which were constantly mak- 
ing, both by day and night, a pleasing murmur, 
rarely changed to a roar. The ground swell brought 
up shells and corals. In the quiet bays the grave 
pelicans dived, rapid as the thunderbolt, all day 
long for sprats ; and, returning at evening to their 
accustomed resting place, sailed sometimes directly 
over our heads, silently as the falling dew, and hold- 
ing both wing and breath for a long distance. The 
shadows of passing rain clouds coming over the hills 
out of the northeast, often blackened the blue of the 
ocean in certain portions of it, while others were 
glittering in sunlight; and the Api-il-like showers 
whi^h fell from time to time were genei-ally accom- 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FEE ED MEN. 361 

panied by brilliant rainbows, sometimes double, or 
triple, or even quadruple — rainboAvs in clusters, like 
the clustered pillars in Gothic cathedrals. Often 
rising out of the depth of a valley, climbing the hill- 
sides, and sweeping through the sky down into the 
ocean, they brought to mind the shining angel in the 
Apocalypse, who stood with one foot on the sea and 
the other on the land. On calm days, the shores, in 
places where there were coral reefs below the water, 
would be as green as the deepest emerald ; at other 
times, the long line of rocks and beaches woidd be 
completely frosted with foam. Not only the colors 
of the sunset wei-e reflected on the broad expanse of 
waters, but throughout the day a flitting purple light 
was often spread by passing clouds over the waves. 
In the eai'ly evening, the moon, when but one day 
old, drew a thread of silver from the horizon to the 
land ; while the full moon poured a perfect flood of 
illumination over hills, valleys, and the sea. The 
limestone road which wound around the foot of the 
hill below us, running on the edge of the shore, shone 
then as if covered with hoarfrost ; and the numerous 
forms of the pahn trees bordering it were doubled 
by their shadows. So transparent, indeed, is the 
atmosphere in these latitudes, that, in calm weather, 
not only the islands of Saint Thomas and Saint 

Johns, lying forty miles to the northward, may be 
Ifi 



362 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

seen distinctly by tlie naked eye, but Porto Rico 
comes into vieAv, and reveals its mountains, at a dis- 
tance of a hundred miles, floating among the clouds. 
Various other small islands also loom up, at such 
times, out of the misty distance ; so that the beams 
of the chambers of the firmament seem to be resting 
upon them. 

Directly behind the house was the garden. A 
door opening from one of our rooms into this, it was 
pleasant to sit looking, on one side, toward the sea, 
and, on the other, upon flowers and green leaves. It 
was pleasant to step out, as the morning was coming 
up behind the eastern hills, among the roses and 
the lilies, and many sweet-scented shrubs, and tall 
trees bearing flowers. At this hour I always realized 
best that I was in the tropics. As if in the natural 
state and condition of man, I stejjped from my room 
into this little tropical Eden, wherein was ho sin, but 
only the gushing light of the Southern morning ; 
only the freshness of the sunrise air, in temperature 
just fitted to sense and feeling ; only the green, 
glossy foliage, and buds and blossoms of every hue 
and fragrance. Here, from the tops of tall trees, the 
glowing scarlet cordia blossoms saluted, high m air, 
the rising svm ; while those of the burning love 
shrub, and of the soldier's plume, equally full of 
fire, but growing lower, welcomed him to the ground. 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 3G3 

Great clusters of oleanders, also, reddened the morn- 
ing air ; and groves of full-blown yellow cedar trees, 
mingled with high Spanish jessamines, gave back to 
the sky more than its own effulgence of molten gold. 
How gorgeous these trojiical flowers ! How strange 
to the sight these broadly spreading giant trees, and 
these puffed and swollen Guinea tamarinds, their 
trunks resembling in color the hide of the elephant ! 
But the palm trees are the most beautiful of all, 
though now, unfortunately, more or less scathed by 
disease ; and they may be seen, throughout the 
island, skirting the roadsides, and tufting, here and 
there, the hilltops. 

In such groves and gardens strolling, during the 
first cool of the day, I was sometimes tempted to 
wish that there existed in our American tropics some 
great city worthy of their beauty and splendor — one 
that might indeed be called a Garden City, its houses 
being embowered in floAvers, and having gardens 
hanging, if need were, like those of Bagdad, in the 
air. Of siich a great capital, the architecture might 
be as light and graceful — as fantastic, too — as was 
that of the Moors in Spain. How splendid would be 
the pomp of arms and military parade beneath the 
sun of these tropics ! How beautiful, likewise, the 
music of coUoseums open to the air, fanned by the 
soft trade wind, and lighted by the full moon ! 



364 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Here the costumes of the promenade and the dance 
might well glow in rivalry with the bright colors of 
the Southern vegetation, Tlie domes and minarets 
might better be gilded than those of Moscow, situ- 
ated beneath a sky of lead ; while the inner walls of 
house and palace should be hung Avith colors caught 
from West Indian skies and seas, as were those of 
Titian from tlie waves and the marbles of Venice. 
No doubt, however, the delights of such a tropical 
seat of art and empire would be too luscious for our 
dyspeptic humanity ; and, for some centuries to 
come, the highest civilization will be that which is 
fed on the gravel stones of the Nortli. 

So far, indeed, the West Indies have done little 
more for man than to develop the faculties and pas- 
sions most nearly allied to sense. These islands have 
been cultivated for their sweets and their aromas. 
For a time, cotton was grown here, as well as coffee 
and cocoa ; but the sugar cane has completely sup- 
planted them ; so that all the hills and valleys now 
droj) with the fatness of sling and molasses. In 
Santa Cruz, however, nearly the whole of the lat- 
ter article is sublimed into rum — potent, aromatic 
" Santa Cruz ;" and, by feeding upon a little of this, 
and a good deal of cane juice, do the negroes, in 
crop time, fatten themselves. Even the cattle and 
horses grow sleek on the green cane leaves. The 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREED MEN. 365 

fields are full of rats and mice gnawing the stalks for 
dear life ; and the very dogs and cats would become 
well favored from the drippings of the sugar kettles, 
did not the climate impose wpon them the laAV of 
perpetual leanness. 

With these two exceptions, all animals, human or 
brute, thrive on sugar — but most of all the negro. 
During the grinding season he is as full of juice as 
a cane in the field ; while in the other seasons of the 
year he gradually becomes almost as thin as a cane 
which has passed between the cylinders. In the for- 
mer period, his skin shmes like the face of one 
anointed with oil. He is full of blood and marrow ; 
and, vfhen angry, w^ill butt his adversary with his 
head like a ram. The senses bud, blossom, and bear 
luscious fruit ; wellnigh overlying, even in the white 
Creole, the more spiritual ficulties and sentiments. 
The latter eats less sugar, and even drinks less rum ; 
but he has turtle, and oysters which grow on trees, 
and pork fattened on cane, and turkeys made tipsy 
with rum before killing, and mutton which is tender 
enough Avithout being ^>a;:>moec?. The Santa Cruzians 
are to this day drinking old Madeira ripened by tlicir 
climate, w^hile the rest of the world has scarcely a 
drop left of it. Unlike the Spaniards, their neigli- 
bors, they give dinners as well as balls. They dine, 
and dance, and have their rubber at wliist. They 



366 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

also go to church on Sunday ; but a man may live 
long on the island without listening to a public 
speech, or a lecture. One would be at a loss to 
know where to go to buy a book. Among the bet- 
ter class of Avhites, the children are sent to Europe, 
or the States, to be educated ; but, whei'e the sun is 
so hot as it is in the West Indies, a young man soon 
forgets his Latin. Twice a month the mails bring 
the English and American newspapers. A gentle- 
man now and then receives odd copies of the re- 
views and magazines. Danish papers, also, come 
from Copenhagen a month or two old, and some- 
times mouldy from sea fog and salt water. On such 
food does the public mind starve ! 

Happily, the Santa Crnzians are compelled to be 
reasonably industrious — the blacks by law, and the 
Avhites by necessity. Previously to the year 1848, 
the laborers were all slaves ; and so heavily were 
they tasked, that the profits of sugar growing were 
very great. Tlie planters lived in ease and luxury, 
and the island was filled Avith inhabitants consider- 
ably beyond its present numbers. But in that year 
the blacks, by a concert of action, and secretly insti- 
gated and favored, as is generally believed, by the 
Government in Denmark, suddenly ceased work, as- 
sembled in the two chief towns of the island, and 
declared themselves freemen. And after two or 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 367 

three days of interregnum, during which consider- 
able property was destroyed, but no lives taken, the 
claims of the insiirrectionists were allowed, on the 
one hand ; while, on the other, they agreed to return 
to their estates, and resiame their customary labors, 
on payment of wages by their former masters. 
From tAV^enty-five to thirty thousand slaves forcibly 
recovei'ed their rights from one quarter of that num- 
ber of whites, without hurting a hair of their heads. 
At first, the home Government made fair promises 
of granting some small amount of compensation to 
the planters for their loss of service ; but being, at 
the same time, of opinion that the island would, in 
the end, be rather a gainer than a loser by the 
change, it at first postponed, and finally withheld all 
remuneration. And if the very great wealth and 
prosperity of the planters has been materially dimin- 
ished since the emancipation of the slaves, this un- 
favorable change is no doubt to be attributed much 
more to the lavish expenditure, and the practice of 
I^lunging recklessly into debt, on the part of the 
landowners, than to the diminished results of labor 
under the system of freedom. The planters, of late 
years, complain of the insufficiency of labor on the 
island, and have made some efforts to import free 
blacks from the more jjopulous and more prosperous 
island of Barbadoes. But they at the same time admit 



368 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

that the freedmen are fairly industrious ; and acknowl- 
edge themselves, on the whole, satisfied with the 
new order of thino's. If the summits of the range 
of hills which follow the whole length of the north- 
ern shore are not as green with cultivation as for- 
merly, but many of them overgrown with the brush 
which now furnishes a home for the spotted deer, 
imported from Ceylon, stiU all the lowland — a stretch 
of some twenty miles in length by nearly half a 
dozen, on an average, in breadth — is crowded with 
waving canes ; while the fair tropical sky above is 
blackened, in crop time, by the smoke of sixty or 
more steam engines. During the existence of sla- 
very, the number of estates reached two hundred 
and twenty-six, each containing from two hvmdred 
and fifty down to six acres ; but many of them, 
being heavily burdened with debt, have passed out 
of the hands of the old planters and their families ; 
tlieir number has been reduced to about ninety ; and 
new men, in many instances, of moderate means, 
have come into possession of them. 

If the Danish Government did not pay the plant- 
ers for the loss of their slaves, it did v/hat was mucli 
more for tlicir interest — it established a code of laws 
which secured to them the willing service of the 
entire black population. Taking pattern from French 
rather than English legislation, in the West Indies, it 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 369 

placed the neAvly recognized freemen in a state of 
tutelage, preparatory to the . future condition of 
absolute political liberty. They were not to be 
allowed to set up their castles of indolence imder 
every cocoa tree and banana shrub, supporting them- 
selves with little labor on the lavish bounty of 
nature in the tropics, and forming such habits of 
idleness and vice as the great heat of the climate 
would naturally engender ; but they were required 
by law to perform a reasonable amount of daily toil 
— so much as would keep up their habits of industry 
already formed, and as would tend to secure their 
moral and physical well-being, as well as the general 
welfare of the white population. The new Labor 
Act was, in fact, a system of laws which at the same 
time guaranteed to the emanci])ated blacks all their 
rights, and minutely prescribed all their duties. In 
all important particulars, it described and established 
the relations to be sustained to each other by the two 
classes of laborers and emj)loyers. 

The laborers were divided into three classes, ac- 
cording to age and capacity. They were required to 
work five days in the week, from sunrise to sunset — 
that is to say, from six in the morning imtil six in 
the evening — resting one hour for breakfast, and 
from twelve to two o'clock for dinner. The wages 

were at the rate of fifteen cents for those of the first 
10* 



370 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

class ; ten cents for those of the second class ; and 
five cents for those of the third class, per day. They 
were also allowed to claim twenty-five cents out of 
the amount of a week's wages, to be paid in corn 
meal and herrings at a fixed price, Avhich, since the 
passage of the law, has proved to be considerably 
below that of the market. The laborers of the first 
and second classes were likewise granted the use of a 
house, or dwelling room, and the use of a piece of 
ground for raising vegetables, thirty feet square, or 
fifty feet, if on a hillside. They were to have, also, 
the privilege of keeping poultry, pigs, and 2:)onics. 
When sick, they were to be entitled to medical at- 
tendance ; if disabled, they Avere to be maintained on 
the estate ; their young children were to be fed and 
attended to at the expense of the landoAvner ; while 
women Avere not to be required to Avork during a 
certain period after childbearing. 

For extra Avork on Saturdays, or other days, 
extra pay Avas given — the maximum being for the 
first class ; as, for example, boilermen, in croji time, 
tAventy cents per day. Any laborer, on the contrary, 
Avilfully abstaining from Avork for a day, would lose 
the day's wages, besides incurring a fine of seven 
cents, if belonging to the first class ; of five cents, if 
to the second ; and of tAvo cents, if to the tliird. 
Laborers not Avorking faithfully, or committing any 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREE DM EN. 371 

otlier offence against tlie laws, were to be punished 
by fine or imprisonment, on comi^laint made to the 
magistrate by the employer or overseer. On the 
other hand, owners and managers of estates con- 
victed of violating any of the provisions of the 
Labor Act, or convicted of practices tending Avil- 
fully to counteract or avoid, either directly or indi- 
rectly, any of its provisions, were subject to a fine 
not exceeding two hundred dollars. 

Gangs of laboj'ers in the field are generally at- 
tended by a foreman, Avhose duty it is to see that all 
work is duly performed, as Avell as to maintain oi'der 
at all times and places. He receives four dollars and 
a half per month. And any laborer resisting or in- 
sulting him is liable to punishment according to law. 

The engagements of laborers Avith their employ- 
ers are annually renewed on the first day of October. 
All blacks have then the privilege of changing their 
emj)loyers, and places of residence, at their own 
pleasure ; and, at any other time during the year, 
the relation between laborer and employer may be 
dissolved by mutual consent, or by order of a magis- 
trate, for cause — the laborer making, at the same 
time, an engagement on some other estate. In point 
of fact, however, the blacks are generally attached 
to their homes, and do not often pass from one jilan- 
tation to another. 



372 TO DIXIE AND TEE TROPICS. 

A military force of two or three hundred men, 
maintained in three small forts, suffices to overaAve 
the sixteen thousand blacks and two thousand mulat- 
toes ; and enables the six thoiisand whites to live 
without apprehension of insiirrection or disorder. 
Substantial and impartial justice seems to be admin- 
istered by the magistrates between all classes of the 
poiKilation. Crimes are rare ; there is but little 
drunkenness ; and the few \iolations of the Labor 
Act occurring are the result, for the most part, of 
the general disposition to idleness and petty thiev- 
ing. The Moravian missionaries, who have been in 
the island for upward of a century, devote them- 
selves to the moral and religious care of the blacks, 
and the teaching of their young children. There are 
nine public schoolhouses ; and all colored children — 
imfortunately, one half of them die in infancy, chiefly 
fi'om neglect of parents — are compelled by law to 
attend school between the ages of six and twelve. 
Yet it must be confessed, so little time has the Afri- 
can nature had to improve itself in since the aboli- 
tion of slavery, that not a quarter of these pupils, 
during all these years of attendance at school, can be 
truly said to learn how to read and write ; and the 
passages of Scripture which all so fluently repeat 
from day to day, are acquired by ear. But they re- 
ceive much excellent moral and religious instruction 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 373 

from their teachers. They are also taught one day 
in tlie week in Sunday schools ; while all, both chil- 
dren and parents, are diligent attendants on public 
wo'"?hip. They take great pleasure and pride in 
going to church, whether Moravian, Lutheran, Cath- 
olic, or Ej^iscopal, in their clean clothes, especially on 
festival days ; and it is said that many of the elderly 
dames are i-egularly confirmed every time the bishop 
comes to the island. 

The more industrious and intelligent blacks ac- 
quire a competency ; laying up their gains in savings 
banks, buying small plots of land, and building small 
houses in town. On market days, they may be seen 
driving to town in so-called " emancipation carts " — 
a kind of two-wheeled vehicle, without the ease of 
springs ; while the little picaniimies who stay at 
home entertain themselves with riding on the backs 
of their fathers' pigs. Many of the blacks who have 
permission of the magistrates to live in town are 
mechanics ; some are engaged in some petty trade ; 
and others are fishermen, supplying the market, twice 
a week, with most delicious fish, and occasionally 
offering for sale to the stranger those delicate j^ink 
l^earls found in tlie conch shell, which are so much 
more beautiful than corals. 

Slowly, but surely, the African of this tropical 
region, set free from bonds, is attaining his majority 



374 2'0 DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

■ — his manhood. Not only does he go regularly to 
church, but he sits in a pew in the midst of Avhite 
folks. The mulatto son of a white planter now and 
then inherits a valuable sugar estate. He begins, 
accordingly, to give balls, and is invited with his 
family to Government House. You do not yet meet 
him at every turn in society ; but you do sometimes 
come on him suddenly, when not at all expecting it. 
And in many cases, it must be allowed, he appears 
every whit as worthy of a place in .polite society as 
his Caucasian neighbor. Indeed, while the fortunes 
of the white man are gradually going down in the 
island, his are slowly going up. In another himdred 
years, the African blood will probably have thor- 
oughly stained the Danish and English ; and whereas 
now the fashion is for hair to be made straight by 
the iisc of pomatum, then, no doubt, it will be curled 
back again by the barber. With the progress of 
years, the number of educated mulattoes is con- 
stantly increasing ; Avhilc the children of pure blacks 
are, day by day, learning sometliing at school, if not 
always their letters. Almost every respectable cabin 
in the island will give convincing proof to the travel- 
ler that the inmates are more or less blindly feeling 
after a higher ideal of life ; for in it he will see that 
they are the possessors of a nice clean bed — a high 
mahogany four-poster — covered with a snow-white 



SANTA CRUZ AND ITS FREEDMEN. 3-75 

counterpane, and not less than half a dozen pillows ; 
though the whole family are, for the time bemg, in 
the habit of sleeping pellmell in their rags beneath 
it. No doubt the day will soon come when they 
^\all occupy the bed itself. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

S t . Til o m a s . 

TO one approaching St. Thomas after, it may 
be, a long and Avcarisome voyage, the Virgin 
Islands, which stand in a group before it, seem to 
come out, like a company of fair maidens, to bid him 
welcome. Graceful forms all, they come with hands 
full of green wreaths and the gorgeous flowers of 
the tropics, scattering them on either side upon tlie 
blue, sunny Avaters. The eye, tired of gazing for 
weeks at the ocean's monotonous horizon and the 
un sympathizing waves, is so cheered by the sight of 
these fair isles, well named after England's famous 
queen, standing side by side in pleasant companion- 
ship, assuming every comely volcanic shape, and 
draped to the feet with the softest, freshest gi'een, as 
were of old the eyes of the children of Israel wlien 
Miriam and her sisters came forth before them Avith 
timbrels and with dances. A few of tliese islands 



ST. THOMAS. Z11 

are cultivated, producing sugar, cotton, rum, and 
wild cattle ; but the greater number are too moun- 
tainous, as -svell as too small to be inhabited. Swift 
and dangerous currents run between many of them. 
Others are guarded by reefs of coral, lying nearly 
level with the surface of the w^ater ; while the pre- 
cipitous, rocky sides of a few of them equally repel 
the approach of man. The sea fowl enjoy here an 
undisputed home — or disputed only by their breth- 
ren, the high-colored land birds. Nature here reaps 
her own harvests of falling leaves and flowers, and 
receives into her own lap the spontaneous fruits as 
they drop. Here reigns silence, unbroken by the 
stroke of the axe or the dog's bark, and as perpetual 
as the summer which dwells on these shores through- 
out the year. What few sounds may chance to reach 
the ear of the mariner, while, borne by the currents, 
or propelled by the softly blowing trade wind, he 
floats silently through these narrow channels, are, 
doubtless, such voices of the syrens as in ancient 
times w^ere beard by the voyagers through the Sicil- 
ian straits, when Calypso and her sisters dwelt on 
the shores. If, in the nineteenth century, one were 
ever liable to be bound by the spell of enchantment, 
it certainly might be when, coming uj) on deck in the 
early morning, he finds himself suddenly transported 
out of the blank of the ocean into the midst of this 



378 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

fantastic group of islands. Nor would the illusion 
be dissipated when, having passed through them, he 
catches sight, in the distance, of the hills of the 
town of St. Thomas, and sails uj), between sheltering 
highlands, its beautiful expanse of bay and harbor. 
Alas ! that it should be, the moment he sets foot in 
the streets. 

Twice I M'as in St. Thomas ; but each time I got 
away from it as soon as I could. It is no place for 
pleasure — only for business ; for life here is entirely 
mercantile. Invited by its fine harbor, commerce 
hither brings, year after year, large stores for the 
consumption, not so much of the inhabitants of St. 
Thomas itself, as of those of the neighboring "West 
Indies. This city is a great distributing point for 
both the Avindward and the leeward islands ; a cen- 
tre for numerous lines of sailing packets and steam- 
ships, and a supply station for vessels of war. Mer- 
chandise is brought to this mart from Europe and 
the United States, and various other parts of the 
world ; and is sold by representatives of almost all 
the commercial nations, Jews and Greeks. The 
streets are a Babel of strange sounds ; the fiices of 
the merchants are of all colors ; their costumes arc a 
motley of all styles ; but their occupation is one. It 
is to get money — to be rich — and, at the same time, 
to live luxuriously. No town in England can possi- 



ST. THOMAS. 379 

bly be so sliopkeeping, nor any Yankee population 
lialf so greedy of gain. There is a Spauish-JeAV 
look in the general countenance, which makes one 
desirous of curtailing his dealings in the shops and 
market places, and even of bringing to as speedy a 
close as may be his residence in the town. 

Of course, there must be many individual excep- 
tions to this prevailing type of commercial character. 
I myself was personally acquainted with merchants 
of high intelligence and liberal sentiments. And it 
gives me pleasiire to add, that one of the principal 
apothecaries of the town was a man learned in sci- 
ence, though self-taught, and had by his own efforts 
made a collection of objects in natural history, not 
surpassed, if equalled, by any similar collection in the 
West Indies. 

There Avas, also, one noted person then living in 
St. Thomas, who was without any other occupation 
than that of seeking his own pleasure. This was the 
famous Mexican general, Santa Anna. Residing in a 
sjiacious house on one of the heights of the city, and 
overlooking the entire length of the beautiful har- 
bor, he devoted himself exclusively to cock fighting 
— or rather, he had done so until just before the 
period of my visit. And the occasion of his sud- 
denly throwing up his occu2:>ation was sufficiently 
characteristic of West Indian manners. The hero 



380 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

with one leg had for a series of years been passion- 
ately addicted to fighting cocks. The chanticleering 
of vast numbers of coops was music to his ears. He 
daily promenaded in the midst of his birds, ad- 
miring their strut, their cropped tails, and their 
haughty challenging of each other to the fight ; and 
wlien Sunday came, he went into the pit with his 
pockets fuU of doubloons. So he lived year after 
yeai*, feeding liis cocks, and fighting all comers. But, 
at last, there arrived a party of Spaniards from the 
island of Porto Rico, bringing their trained cham- 
pions to contend Avith him. Durmg the first few 
days they lost, for the most part, their money and 
their birds ; but as gradually the betting began to 
run higher, the luck began to turn in favor of the 
strangers. Their cocks rapidly improved in pluck 
and vigor ; while the Mexican Don's heroes showed 
a disjDosition to turn tail, and "were easily flooi'ed. 
After a few rounds, in fact, they fell dead ; and, in 
consequence, the doubloons all passed across the pit 
into the pockets of the gay fellows froin Porto Rico. 
What was the meaning of all this ? asked the 
valiant general, as he saw his oimces so rapidly leav- 
ing him. To his great disgust, he found, on inquiry, 
that the Spaniards' cocks had the feathers of their 
necks jioisoned ; so that their opponents, after peck- 
ing at them, soon becauK' aftected by the subtile 
venom, and Avere easily disabled. 



ST. THOMAS. ■ 381 

" I'll never fight another cock in all my days ! " 
exclaimed the incensed hidalgo. He thereupon 
kicked every Porto Rican out of sight with his 
wooden foot, and straightway shut up his cockpit. 
Unluckily for him, he had already lost, as the story 
went, several thousand ounces. 

If St. Thomas cannot be praised for anything else, 
it must be for its situation, than which few cities can 
boast a fairer. For it is built on three round liills, 
of about equal size, which rise directlj^ from the 
waterside ; and from this triple height it looks down 
uj^on a harbor extending several miles in nearly a 
straight course out to sea. Beautiful in its natural 
features, this magnificent sheet of water is always 
enlivened by the white sails and black smoke of the 
coming and going sea craft. Huge steamers and 
ships of war ride at anchor on it ; and great num- 
bers of sail and rowboats are constantly dancing 
over its blue waters. Behind the hills on which the 
city is erected rises, at a little distance, a background 
of moimtains covered with vegetation. Indeed, so 
close do the hills come down to the sea in the neigh- 
borhood of the town, and so mountainous is the 
whole surface of the island, that the inhabitants pos- 
sess but one carriage road, a few short miles in 
length, and only one or two pleasant promenades. 
Of these they make good use on holidays, but are 
never seen on them when the shops nre open. 



382 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

There is but one farm on the island, and this lies 
hid, like a bird's nest, among the hills. All its 
products and supplies are transported to and fro on 
horse or mule back. The mountains stand for fences ; 
there are no neighbors' pigs or cattle, hens or tur- 
keys, to commit ti'espass ; no outlying squatters to 
harvest the rightful owner's corn, or dig his potatoes 
in the night time ; no vagrant boys to pilfer his 
grapes and oranges. The occupant of such an estate 
might lead a life which, in iminterrupted tranquillity, 
and exemption from the great world's annoyances, 
would be second only to that of Robinson Crusoe 
with his goats. At the time of my visit, the proprie- 
tor, like a Spaniard as he v/as, wished to disjjose of 
his solitary estate by lottery. For thirty thousand 
dollars — I think that was the sum — he could be in- 
duced to part Avith this hill property, including all its 
furniture and equipage, its sheep, and coavs, and 
horses, and asses. There was to be one prize, and I 
know not hoAV many thousand blanks — say fifteen. 
In Spain, all things are liable to go into the lottery 
box. A man may draw anything out of it, except it 
be a Avife. And why not, then, a farm in the moun- 
tains of St. Thomas ? I haAC ncA'er heard Avho — if, 
indeed, the scheme did not fall through — was the for- 
tunate holder of the prize. But most likely, if the 
proprietor happened to have a few tickets left un- 



ST. THOMAS. 383 

sold, as he naturally would, he must have been the 
man himself. San Fernando ! if I could only put all 
my Spanish castles into lotteries ! One need not be 
so very much greater a fool to buy the tickets, than 
to jump at the chance of those of a firmer on the 
mountain tops of St. Thomas. 

One would naturally si;ppose that a city thus set 
on a hill Avould have good drainage, and be endowed 
with all the sanitary virtues ; but, as is well knoAvn, 
it is not so in the case of St. Thomas. The thickly 
crammed quarters of the laboring classes are rarely 
free from the ravages of some form or other of pesti- 
lence. Fever, cholera, and smallpox are domesti- 
cated here ; and often extend, also, to all j^arts of the 
city. Fair as it appeal's to one approaching it from 
the sea, St. Thomas is but an apple of Sodom — full 
of dead men's ashes. 

Nevertheless, it is but simple justice to add, that, 
however much I had heard of its epidemics before 
visiting it, when there I neither heard nor saw any 
signs of them. I was well myself; while the indica- 
tions at the table of the hotel where I staid, were 
that all the guests were in excellent appetite. In- 
deed, I was very comfortable in the great inn of St. 
Thomas. Its piazza could hardly have been cooler if 
it had been built by Moors instead of Spaniards ; for 
it possessed ample space, au open colonnade, and 



384 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

only lacked a fountain in its centre. There was one 
in fact, in a small garden which the piazza directly- 
overlooked, Avhile, beyond this, the harbor lay so 
fully exposed to view, tliat, while sipping their 
coffee, or smoking their cigars, the j^atrons of the 
house beheld near by the active movement of boats 
and shipping. Here parties could sit at tea, eat ices, 
play at dominoes, talk, smoke even, all without inter- 
fering with each other any more than if they had 
been seated in a tea garden on the banks of the Elbe 
or the Rliine. In hot countries space is the chief of 
the architectural virtues. I never sat down in the 
vast dining room of this hotel without a cool sense 
of satisfxction. I was sure of a bountiful supply of 
fresh air, whatever else might fail at dinner ; and 
that was certainly better than an extra joint and 
pudding. Could I have slept in a bedchamber of 
equal dimensions, I might perhaps have imagined 
that, in reaching St. Thomas, I had arrived at that 
emporium of delights which the dwellers in the 
neighboring islands fully believe it to be. But, alas ! 
all places in this world fall, in some trifle or other, 
short of elysium. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The Bermudas. 

N looking on the map of the world al&ng a line 
of latitude eastward from Charleston, one sees, 
far off in the mid-Atlantic, five or six little dots. 
These represent the Bermudas. They are a cluster 
of small islands as numerous as the days in the year 
— spots of land surrounded hy innumerable waves 
and boundless wastes of ocean, where the deep bot- 
tom of the sea has come up to take breath and greet 
the skies. Points of light are they, where the sun's 
rays are reflected by chalkstone and sea shells, and 
the still brighter habitations of men, all whitewashed 
even to the roofs ; where the moon and stars are 
mirrored in tiny sheltered bays, more placid than the 
ever-rolling ocean around ; and where the mariner, 
still afar off, descries wide circles of flashing foam, 
as the long Atlantic billows surge agamst the reefs 
of coral, which on all sides protect these solitary 



386 2'0 DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

isles from the ravages of the angry main. Like 
angels' wings tlie breakers flash and sliine, by day 
and by night, guarding the little sunny vales that lie 
nestling within their magic ring ; nor completely 
shutting out the ships which seek for a refuge from 
the buffetings of the sea, but through secure, if nar- 
row passages, inviting them in to rest in peaceful 
havens, and offering to famished ci'ews their laid-up 
stores, and the fresh fruits of the land. A place of 
refuge in the midst of pathless waters, how many a 
shattered bark, since the day when Columbus sailed 
the sea, has sought in distress these hospitable har- 
bors ; how many an anxious mariner's eyes have 
strained their balls to discover through the blackness 
of tempest and hurricane the guiding lights of Ham- 
ilton and St. George's ; how many land birds, driven 
off their course by gales, and exhaiisted by long 
flights over the weary waters, have folded tiieir 
wings in joy and peace amid the succoring branches 
of these cedar trees ! 

I remember it as one of the most charming 
drives of my life, when, released from a four days' 
imprisonment on board the dirty, though stanch 
British steamer " Merlin," a Government mail packet 
running between St. Thomas and Halifax, via Ber- 
muda, I was conveyed, one fine April day, by a 
sturdy pair of grays, leisurely through the centre of 



THE BERMUDAS. 387 

these islands. Tlie road was a continuous curve. 
Now it wound up gentle ascents ; now it followed 
the course of sinuous valleys ; here it made u turn 
about a ledge of rocks ; there it bent around the 
graceful half circles of the shores. But most of the 
turns were short ; so that the way was full of sur- 
prises. At times I was in the midst of groves of 
low-growing cedars, which cover most of the higher 
grounds of the islands ; then I descended into small 
valleys, mere dimples on the surface of the land, 
where there were little patches of cultivation ; then 
again I came suddenly upon some inland bay, where 
the waves of the ocean were reduced to ripples, 
which broke in low whispers on the beaches. Such 
lovely, land-locked bits of sea water were they, and 
green as liquid emeralds — here pale, and there deep 
green, according as the depth of water above the 
coral bottom varied — sometimes purjile even, espe- 
cially where the prospect opened seaward, half re- 
vealing in the remote distance groups of islets, now 
darkened by the deej) shadows of passing clouds, 
and now lit up by the returning floods of liglit, made 
doubly eifulgent by the flashing and glimmer of the 
surrounding waves. To the silence of the forest 
succeeded quickly the murmur of the sea. From 
the dark-green foliage of the cedars the eye passed 
by easy gradation to the green of shallow waters, 



388 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and the distant blue and purple of the deep. The 
solitude of nature was interrupted at intervals by the 
wayside cottages of the small flii-mers ; and espe- 
cially, on approaching the town of Hamilton, did I 
frequently come upon snug little villas, embosomed 
in trees, and shrubbery, and flowers. The hedge 
rows were composed of scarlet geraniums, and ole- 
anders, and pomegranates, in full bloom, Nearer the 
town, what multitudes of roses Avere blowing in 
every garden, and climbing over the cottage walls ! 
The very air was rose colored. 

But neither of the two Bermudian capitals, St. 
George's and Hamilton, are particularly noticeable as 
towns. Their life is mostly seafaring. They being 
built directly along the harbors, the vessels come iip 
close into town, their bowsprits projecting over some 
of the princijial streets, and their masts peering over 
the chimney tops. From the sidewalks one beholds 
the sea-going vessels arriving and departing ; the 
songs of the sailors ring out above the rattling of 
the carriage wheels ; and gay little ^ail-boats are seen 
flying with birds' wings up and doAvn the bays. 
Here is one of England's famous naval establish- 
ments ; so that the streets are always more or less 
filled with imiforms, Avhile the small parlors of soci- 
ety are crowded with ej^aulettcs. Even the convicts, 
of whom there is here a large colony from the 



THE BERMUDAS. 389 

mother country, live and labor in huge hulks — great 
inv-alided sea monsters, which lie at anchor near one 
of the islantls. When the commodore of the sta- 
tion, which, in company with an EngUsh friend, we 
were inspecting, politely asked us to luncheon, we 
found him living on a little island not so very much 
larger than a seventy-four gun ship. Received in a 
drawing room, built as much on the model of a 
ship's cabin as of anything else, we were served by 
boys in sailor shirts and jackets ; and, on taking 
leave, were sent home in a boat which lay moored 
but a few steps from the door of the mansion house. 
But I remember well that, in sj^ite of the huge round 
of salted beef which stood on one end of the table, 
as red as the face of the brave old commodore him- 
self, the entertainment had the pleasant flavor of the 
land about it ; and I was especially grateful for hav- 
ing the taste of the " Merlin's " sea biscuit taken 
out of my mouth by the Aj^ril-grown strawberries. 
Have I said that the commodore's face was red, as of 
one who had faced in his lifetime many a breeze, if 
not a battle ? Then I will add my belief that his 
heart was full of good red English blood also — red- 
der than his beef and strawberries, if possible ; for 
he showed kindness to me, who was a stranger ; and, 
according to his opportunity, gave proof that he was 
endowed with that fine sense of hospitality which is 



390 TO DIXIE AND THE TROFICS. 

so generally the crowning gift and grace of an Eng- 
lishman in his own home. 

The Bermiidians are not always folloAving the 
sea ; but, when on shore, are busy raising onions and 
potatoes. Generally, sailors make poor farmers ; yet 
here they succeed in producing early vegetables in 
such perfection, that it is to be feared lest the Ber- 
mudas, instead of being famed as the oleander isles, 
may beconie known in common parlance as the 
spring kitchen garden of New York. Certain it is 
that, early in the season, the Bermudian brigs and 
schooners, all built of red cedar, are annually setting 
off for the " States," laden down to the gunwale 
with these useful fruits of the soil. A certain 
amount of the best arrowroot in the world likewise 
forms part of their cargo. The soil and climate 
must be remarkably adapted to the cultivation of 
these products ; for I never tasted, in any other part 
of the world, vegetables of such good quality. Na- 
ture excels here, not in trees, for the cedars are 
scrubby ; nor in men or women, for tlie best of these, 
as well as the worst, are imported from England ; 
but in flowers, and especially in onions, tomatoes, 
and ])otatoes. She produces the latter in such ex- 
hausting perfection, that they are incapable of per- 
petuating their species with any similar degree of 
excellence ; and every year the farmers are obliged 



THE BERMUDAS. 391 

to import for seed our own " Western reds." Import- 
ed in tlie body, they are here endowed with the soul 
of goodness. So the most luscious pears often yield 
imperfect seeds ; and, in order to obtain new varie- 
ties, the pomologists raise their seedlings from some- 
what inferior sorts, in the production of which 
nature stops short of her utmost possibility of pulp. 

If it is not to be supposed that these small-island- 
ers have developed any great degree of mechanical 
genius, still it must be allowed that they are toler- 
able ship builders. To be sure, the old English hulks, 
which lie at anchor about the islands, set before the 
eyes of the ship carpenter a sorry lot of models ; and 
sometimes, as I was told, when the British admii-alty 
produces some naval abortion, like their first iron- 
clad frigate, they send it to the Bermudas, in order 
to have it moored Avell out of sight. However, the 
colonial brigs and other small craft, though clumsy- 
looking enough, are good sailers, and manage to run 
over to New York with their potatoes befoi-e the rot 
gets into them. There are also to be met with here 
a fcAV cunning artificers in cedar wood, who out of 
this fair and pleasantly scented material fabricate 
various articles of furniture and the toilette. The 
delicate palmetto work of female artists, likewise, is 
to be set down to the credit of the colonists ; for 
their skilful fingers weave the prettiest ot baskets, 



392 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and the lightest and jauntiest of hats and bonnets. 
As the convicts are not allowed the freedom of fol- 
lowing the seas in their penitentiary hulks, they, too, 
contrive to relieve the monotony of life by occasion- 
ally working in the petrified water Avhich is found in 
the stalactite caves of the islands, and from which 
they manufacture very pretty brooches, and other 
ornaments. Loafers j^crmitted to go at large some- 
times search the shores for a species of seaweed, 
which, after it has been buried in the sand long 
enough to get rid of the congealed salt water with 
which it is incrusted, they make a fanciful kind of 
riding whips. The stranger is expected 1k) make 
small mvestments in all these specimens of handi- 
craft — to say nothing of his bags of potatoes, strings 
of onions, boxes of tomatoes, and bottles of arrow- 
root. 

In Hamilton I found tAvo or three of my country- 
men, eating their potatoes, and recruiting their 
health. But I do not think the climate can be 
recommended for invalids at any season of the year, 
excepting, perhaps, the spring. In summer, the 
south winds too much prevail, bringing intense heat, 
accompanied with humidity — a sultry, stifling atmos- 
2)here — and, consequently, both languor of body and 
depression of mind. In winter, the weather is chilly 
and variable. The Bermudas are then the vexed 



THE BERMUDAS. 393 

Bermoothes of the poet. For the winds then course 
after each other around these islands as a goal ; while 
they breathe out of their nostrils dire mists and va- 
pors. The atmosphere is so constantly charged with 
humidity, that the inner house walls emit a cold per- 
spu-ation worse even than the stone walls of Paris. 
The paper hangings are discolored ; articles of dress 
mould as in a sliip's cabin ; the inhabitants live in a 
perpetual vapor bath, and one which is as much too 
cold for comfort as that of the Grand Turk is too 
hot. Unhappily, there is but little fuel ia the islands 
wherewith to rejiel the cold and dampness ; for there 
is no coal, and but a moderate supply of wood. The 
natives, of course, fight out the battle of the winter 
as best they can with flannel and strong beer ; but 
valetudinarians of other lands should leave them to 
do it alone. 

And yet it may seem almost ungenerous in me to 
write in such disparaging terms of a climate which 
to myself was so agreeable. The few days of my 
sojourn in — shall I call them the oleander, or the 
rose islands ? — were days without stain or blemish. 
Coming from the tropics, to me the coolness of this 
more northern atmosphere was more exhilarating 
than could have been any tonic from the doctors' 
shops. I felt refreshed and invigorated by breathing 
this air, as one does after taking a cold bath. From 
17* 



394 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

morning until evening the snn shone out of a clear 
blue sky, with only occasional white clonds floating 
through it, and happily tempered by its genial heat 
the sharp coolness of the sea air in spring time. 
Dm-ing the period of my visit, all the vexing winds 
had withdrawn to their caves — probably the remark- 
able stalactite caves which exist in some of these 
islands. Only the zephyrs were at large, gambolling 
on the vv^ater, and frolicking among the cedar trees ; 
while Boreas and his dire crew kept their secret 
orgies far under groimd. The mornings and even- 
ings were perfectly calm ; and at midday the faint 
breezes served only to waft through open doors the 
fragrance of flowers blooming in the fields and gar- 
dens. 

I recollect with special pleasure the beautiful calm 
of the Sunday morning after my arrival. No Sun- 
day could be more sabbatical, more hushed, more fuU 
of heavenly light, or pervaded with a more genial 
warmth. As I walked out under the thick cypress 
trees, and along the roadside, the silence of the 
morning was broken by no noise of business, or even 
sounds in nature. Not even a cow lowed, nor a dog 
barked, nor a cock crowed, nor hardly a cricket or a 
grasshopper chirruped. 

Here and there, the dark thickets were lighted up 
by the flash of a cardinal grosbeak, which uttered a 



THE BERMUDAS. 395 

carol or two, and then was still again. The red- 
breast now and then added a few melodious notes to 
its early morning song ; and the gorgeous bits of 
humming birds made, occasionally, a low murmur m 
the hedges. Otherwise, nature lay as silent as if 
entranced ; while the most brilliant sunlight bathed 
all the isles of cedar, checkering the ground beneath 
them with sharp contrasts of light and shade, and 
spread its gilding over the circumambient waters and 
the coral shoi-es. 

K every day in the Bermudas were like this, men, 
whether invalid or robust, would be attracted to 
them as formerly to the Happy Islands of ancient 
fable ; and I am glad to be able to bear witness that 
there may be such in the month of April. 



CHAPTER XXXYIL 

C a J) e Cod. 

THERE is always a second summer in the 
American year. When the September gales 
have swept over the woods, and shaken tlie first 
leaves of autnmn to the grovmd ; when from the gar- 
dens the more delicate buds and fragrant blossoms 
have passed away ; when the earlier fruits have 
ripened and been gathered ; when evening begins 
sooner to draw the curtains of the day, and the sun's 
horses start later on their morning courses ; when 
the pleasure parties of the season are breaking up, 
and words of farewell are being said, and over the 
most buoyant mind a certain pensiveness steals, and 
regrets fall upon it as from out the autumnal air, 
then the year, w^hich had begun to withdraw its face, 
turns again with a parting smile, and kisses its hand 
to us. Then comes a succession of golden days, 
when the air is still, and the heavens, slightly veiled 



CAFU COD. 397 

with purple haze, ai*e without a cloud. The autum- 
nal flowers are arrayed iu all their glory. Tlie or- 
chards yield up their red-sided, gold-colored apples 
for the winter's store. The grapes are turned to 
purple. The latest pears melt upon the devourmg 
lips, and the last drops of sweetness are being dis- 
tilled into the yet unplucked peaches. Now the dili- 
gent housewife gathers from out the leaves, still 
green, the yellow, shining quince, and, correcting its 
tart juices with melted sugar, lays it by for winter 
tea drinkings. The farmer husks his corn, making 
the greensward shine with the long, broad line of 
glittering ears. He piles up, also, the yellow pump- 
kins, or hangs the squashes against the wall, by their 
necks. His boys bring home at night the cows from 
still green and thickly matted meadows, with udders 
wide distended. The poultry yards are full of cack- 
ling, and youthful attempts at chanticleering. Fleets 
of geese and ducks float down the brooks, or lie 
moored on the j^onds ; and the half-grown turkey 
cocks gabble, and spread their tails over vast spaces 
of yard and pasture. This season is the mellowing 
of the year. In sunny European lands, and beneath 
sacred Oriental skies, the graj^es are now trodden in 
the winepress ; and even in our own New Jersey, 
the bounty of nature runs to sweet cider. The earth 
has put forth her great productive power, and re- 



398 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

joices as a woman after childbearing ; the sun has 
done his year's work, and ripened all seeds and 
grains ; there is food garnered up for man and beast ; 
and the great God seems to look down out of heaven 
U])on what He. hath wrought, and pronounce it good. 
It is a season to be enjoyed as one does old wine. 
As we bring this out of the cellar on high festal 
occasions, to celebrate the rite matrimonial, or to 
honor the anniversary of a bii'thday, to greet the 
coming of long-absent friends, and freshen the memo- 
ries which run far back to days of " auld lang 
syne ; " so this brief second summer of the year 
should be filled up with imusual joys. Then make a 
holiday. Then telegraph to youi* best friend to come 
with wife and child. Let boys and girls be let loose 
from school, that they may go a-nutting. Let there 
be picnics in the glens and on the hillsides. Chmb 
the moimtains. Coast the shores. 'Tis the hunter's 
moon, and you may follow the path of the buck and 
the doe, or hey on pointer or setter. You see the 
breaking of day as you go on your way to lie for 
wild fowl, which, when it is yet dark, fly overhead 
with whistling wings ; while far off is heard the 
scream of the coming wild geese. Now let the reel 
hiss, as the line is cast from the rocks for tautog. It 
is the season, also, for bass fishing. Now let the 
lover of natiire and mushrooms prevent the sun, and 



CAPE COD. 399 

gather bis breakfost witli tbe dew on it. Let all 
men — all Yankees — eat pumpkin pie. Tbe full moon 
favors busking by nigbt ; and be wbo finds brindled 
ears may kiss bis partner, tbougb be may no longer 
drink milk j^uncb, for it is contrary to law. Now is 
" training " time ; and tbere will be cakes at tbe mus- 
ter for old and young — and, surely, pop beer. Now 
pack into comitry wagons, tbree on a seat. At morn- 
ing, wind tbe born, and let tbe bounds bay. At 
nigbt, draw tbe bow, dance, sing, and make merry, 
giving God tbanks ; for tbis glorious second summer, 
called Indian, is given us but for seven days, or it 
may be ten. Tben get quickly out of doors — be 
off — and caps in tbe air ! 

Happy harvest days ! and happily did I spend 
them, ankle deejD in thy golden sands. Cape Cod ! 

Perhaps I should have done better still to have 
gone in rough weather. Tbe scene here, doubtless, 
is more characteristic when nature frowns, than when 
she smiles. For the Cape is decidedly tragic. Its 
great mood is when nature is angry, and all her ele- 
ments are at war. "When the east wind is rising out 
of tbe sea, and tbe pine woods begin to sigh for 
pain ; when tbe ocean, fretted to madness by tbe 
gale, lashes the long sandy beaches, and breaks high 
over the rocks on the shore ; when the drift sand 
flies like snowflakes, and the whirlwinds, in their 



400 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

rough play, bear it aloft in the air ; when the rain, 
bursting the clouds, contends in its turn Avith both 
winds and waves, and beats them down ; when, in 
winter, the sharp sleet cuts the air, and the snow- 
blast shuts out the light of heaven, and night, set- 
ting in, adds the terrors of utter darkness to those 
of the storm, and the signal gun of the East India- 
man, drifting upon the leeshore — a few hom's before 
so near the wished-for haven — is heard faintly boom- 
ing through the uproar of the elements, and vainly 
calling upon the wrecker, who sits idle by his blazmg 
fireside, pitying the poor souls whose imaginary cries 
ring in his ears, but whom he cannot save from the 
jaws of the devourmg waves. For no mortal arm 
can stay the implacable wrath of the Almighty when 
He bids the sea roar, and engulf in its depths the 
impious mariner and his ship. Then the traveller, on 
this long arm of sand vainly stretched out to em- 
brace the unwilling, untamable ocean, and marry it 
in loving wedlock to the land, sees and feels what 
Cape Cod is. With awe he hears the sublime moan- 
ing of the long, flat beaches, and the more angry 
resounding of the coast, where it is bolder, and 
rocky. The north shore answers with its uproar to 
the uproar of the south. As, at sea, the wind M'his- 
tles and sings in the cordage of the scudding sliip to 
the deep bass of the roaring waves, so, here, the 



CAPE COD. 401 

howling of llie Avinds among the branches of the 
oaks, and the loud himent of the pine woods, are 
added to the hello Avmg of the strands. How weak 
does man appear when tossed on these waves ! Yet 
how strong, when, in his snug cot on the shore, he 
sits reading by the unflickering candle, and heeds not 
either the outcries of nature or the wrath of God ! 

But, at the period of my visit, the stormy Cape 
was lying as calm and placid in the midst of the sea, 
as, in midsummer, rise the round tops of the AUe- 
ghanies in the untroubled southern heavens. The 
smi looked with warm, enamored beams upon the 
bosom of the earth ; the winds lay reposing in the 
depths of the pine woods, scarcely breathing audi- 
bly ; and the tired waves slept on the shore. At 
evening, as the full, round moon rose from the Atlan- 
tic, it spread out a level, silvery carpet to the hori- 
zon, almost tempting the beholder to walk forth on 
the high sea ; as, on solemn festal occasions, the 
gold-spangled tapestry invites the feet of the guests 
who go up into the lighted palaces of kings. And 
all night long, when at intervals I awoke out of my 
dreams, I heai'd, at the distance of a stone's throw, 
the innumerable ripples breaking on the sand, as if 
the uxorious old ocean were kissing, even in his 
sleep, the softly breathing lips of the shore. At 
midnight, I arose from my bed, and walked out into 



402 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the air, feeling an irrepressible curiosity to listen to 
tlie wliispering of the night ■u*inds, and overhear the 
telling of their secret loves. I beheld, also, the 
dance of the waves, which Avere keeping up their 
revelry beneath the light of the moon, tripping it as 
gracefully as fairies on tlie greensward, and quickly 
dissolving in mutual embraces, like hearts in the 
joined breasts of lovers. How refreshing and 
wholesome was the salt in the air from the ocean ! 
" There can no malignant sj^irit or goblin walk this 
strip of earth," said I, returning to my couch ; " the 
air is too pure." And, indeed, it can scarcely be 
credited that a real, hona-fide ghost was ever seen 
on Cape Cod. There are Quakers here, but no 
witches. It is not j^ossible. 

But by day my eyes feasted, through all the 
hours, on the richly colored autumnal landscape. 
Here stretch, for miles beyond miles, the salt mead- 
ows of Barnstable, watered not by rains and dews 
only, but by the monthly flowing of the tides ; and 
these level tracts are now as tawny as the lion's skin. 
This, likewise, being the season when the pine trees 
shed their needles, the earth beneath them is no less 
tawny than the open marshes. And everyAvhere the 
sand of the shore is as yellow as tlie breast of a 
robin. In the warm rays of the sun it even shines 
like beaten gold, making the whole Cape gilt-edged. 



CAPE COD. 403 

But ou the uplands, the yellow runs into a russet, a 
richly tinted brown, and forms a bactground which 
is covered with a glory of autumnal tints, the purple 
of oaks and whortleberry bushes, the orange and 
scarlet of maples, the green of pines and cedars. 
There is color everywhere — on the fields and trees ; 
on the meadows and the shores ; in the hollows and 
aromid the edges of pools. Not a bush but glows, 
not a stone but shines. The ^ery particles of sand, 
if closely inspected, flash like diamonds by candle- 
light ; and, though held in your hand, seem almost 
as far off and as glittering as the stars in the blue 
twilight of the night. And these colors are all 
dashed together — a beautiful variety in unity — mak- 
ing a kaleidoscope in the eyes of every man. Still, 
it must be acknowledged that, as one proceeds far- 
ther upon the Cape, he notices a gradual falling off 
in the tone of nature's coloring, as old pictures in 
travelling down the course of time lose, during each 
century, more and more of their first blush and gor- 
geousness. The brilliancy of the reds and purples 
fiides, and the browns grow duller. Even the fine 
gold of the pumpkins becomes tarnished ; the color 
of animals runs to sorrel ; and the habitations of 
man, partaking of the tendency of nature, show only 
the unpainted gray, or the stains of the original red 
and green, or the blank white of modern fishion, 



404 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

which makes the piijjils of the eye instinctively con- 
tract to look at it. There is evidently a deficiency 
of coloring materials on the great jDainter's easel ; 
and, at last, whether the power of nature he dimin- 
ished, or this part of her work be yet raw and unfin- 
ished, there remain only the green of the pines and 
the yellow of the sands, wherein is no harmony. 

And yet there is a notable excei^tion to this law 
of gradual fading. There is more red in the face of 
the Cape Codders, all the way down to Province- 
town, than of any other people in the States. It is 
the old English red — blood-red. Though the skin be 
generally pretty thoroughly sunburnt, bronzed often 
by the glare from the salt water, yet the vermilion 
shmes through, giving evidence of good blood and 
vigorous arteries. The race is, indeed, j^urely Brit- 
ish. For the ■ inhabitants are all direct descendants 
of the Puritans, or, at least, of early emigrants from 
Great Britain. There lias been no mixture of races 
here. While the Cape has always been a fruitful 
womb of men, sending her sons out into all the 
broad American earth, there has, on the contrary, 
been no reflex tide of immigration. The Cape, 
therefore, is all of one blood, of one face, of one 
speech, of one homogeneous heart. True, there are 
Indians still in Marshpee ; but are they not also red 
men ? Their faces are, indeed, not a little smutted 



CAPE COD. 405 

by a dash of negro blood in tliem ; but some, fortu- 
nately, still show the reddish glitter of the original 
copper. At least, they are not pale faced, but high 
colored, and come not without a degree of grace into 
the autumnal landscape. 

And this red-facedncss of the people is a great 
point in the description of Cape Cod. For, while 
the earth gradually loses its color and all its signs of 
vigor, as Ave travel toward the end of his path in the 
sands, we see that the lord of nature, on the con- 
trary, remains ruddy and strong featured. Neither 
the weakness of the land, nor the extraordinary 
strength of the circumambient waters and winds has 
been able to produce degeneracy of the race of man. 
He has buffeted the waves, and overmastered them. 
He has sailed in the very eyes and teeth of the 
winds. He has fixed the floating sands, by planting 
them with beach grass ; has sown the pine trees in 
furrows ; has set oaks on the hilltops, that when the 
winds, rising in their might, threaten ■ to tear him 
from the land, he may have something to hold on to ; 
has planted the barren shore with Indian corn, put- 
ting a dead "horse foot" in every hill; has grown 
potatoes from seaweed down to the very line of high- 
water mark ; has turned the mud of flats to oysters ; 
has dried the cod from the great deep into codfish ; 
and, finally, has manufactured the sea itself into salt. 



406 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

Thus has man made himself master ; and though, in 
struggling with the earth to till it, he has sometimes 
come upon his hiji, like Jacob wrestling with the 
angel, and though he has often been pinched by the 
wind, and jammed agamst the leeward shore, yet, 
after all, he has fought the lifelong battle with the 
natural elements triumphantly, and still hangs OTit his 
flag of victory in the red of his face. 

The Cape Codder is hardy and vigorous, and may 
emjjhatically be said to be a self-made man — external 
nature having done so little for him. If the bone of 
this young country may be considered as yet some- 
what in the gristle, it is not so with that of tliis 
Cape. Its bone is mature, and its muscle, also, is as 
hard as rope's end and bowdine. Oft pelted by 
storms and riddled by gales ; now buried in snow 
banks, and never quite sure of his footing in the 
sands ; now petrified by east wunds fresh from 
Greenland and the ice islands, and then, in hot sum- 
mer days, when there is not a breath of air to break 
the glazed surface of the surrounding ocean, baked 
as if he were an ostrich egg ; obliged constantly to 
harass the surface of the earth, in order to extort 
from it even a niggardly increase ; and, finally, 
driven in despair to the Avail of the sea, and in 
straits compelled to sound the depths of the ocean 
witli line, hook, and sinker, and to vex its surface 



CAPE COD. 407 

with his keels, the Cape Cod man has to fight his 
way through existence as a glacliatoi' his way out of 
the ring. Of course, the feebler children die early ; 
but the grown man is all thews and sinews. His 
nerves are of whalebone, and his skin will keep out 
water like oakum. 

But while this hardness of nature seems only to 
develop a superior hardness in the frame of man, all 
lower animals are grovmd down in the face against 
it. I saw but few of them anyAvhere, and these 
mostly stmited. Scarcely a dog yelped at me from 
one end of the Cape to the other ; for dogs do not 
thrive well on fish ; and, besides, the waves are there 
to do the barking. But one would suppose it a very 
paradise for cats ; yet, as there are no mice biat water 
rats, so all the cats are catfish. And, accordingly, in 
all my lymg awake to listen to the vespers which the 
waves on the beaches chanted through the livelong 
hours of the night, I heard not a single charivari. 
Sailors, too, are notoriously hard on horses ; and 
drift sand, like Jordan, makes a hard road to travel. 
Shanghae fowls do not thrive well here. Their tails 
do not grow, and they become so stupid as scarcely to 
know hoAV to set one foot before the other ; making 
awkward, uncertain movements, as if they were on 
stilts, or even walking on their own eggs. At the 
cattle show in the county town where I happened to 



408 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

be present, the native breeds were all inferior. 
Whatever was big and fat Avas foreign born, or, at 
least, of blood not strictly Capish. Such was their 
great Ayrshire bull — as huge a monster as the Trojan 
horse, or the whale which, in attempting to jump 
the Cajje, landed himself, with all his tusks and blub- 
ber, high and dry on the sands. All the fat pigs 
were Lady Suffolks ; all the battering rams were 
Southdowns ; and all the hens that laid golden eggs 
were born Poles. In fact, the only native animals at 
all worth the showing were the men themselves. 
One in particular there w^as at the ploughing match, 
who reminded me of that Triptolemus of Eleusis, to 
whom, first of mortals, Ceres taught the use of the 
plough. Cincmnatus himself could not have bent 
over the tails with broader shoulders, nor a nose 
more truly Roman. Between his legs and the length 
of his furrows there was a certain correspondence. 
When standing upright, he cast a shadow over half 
the scene, and dwarfed the oxen before him till they 
looked scarcely bigger than rats. 

The inhabitants of this ridge of drift sand are 
remarkably thrifty. One sees nowhere indications 
of extreme destitution. But while most of the peo- 
ple are independent in their circumstances, there is 
not much wealth, and no show of it. The Grecian 
colunm will, indeed, follow the traveller all the way 



CAPE COD. 409 

down the Cape, though Greece may seem farther oiF 
than ever ; nor can all the window blinds on the 
houses make the place appear in the least degree like 
Venice. Here he will see a Doric entablature pierced 
by five small windows, and there a court house in the 
form of an antique temple, but with its roof bristhng 
^yi\h half a dozen stacks of tall Yankee chimneys. 
Yet this show of Grecian architecture, if it does not 
always indicate good taste, is a certain sign of thrift. 
The man who builds his house with a front like an 
Athenian temple, is sure to be a financially success- 
ful one, and, generally, a man Avho has earned liis 
own money ; for they who inherit fortunes, being 
often travelled men, or cultivated by some consider- 
able amount of reading, know that the public edi- 
fices of the old Greeks do not suit the purpose of 
our modern housekeeping. Thus, every successful 
captain of a ship who comes home to build a house 
in the sands, must have Grecian pillars. He has got 
the money, and he wiU have a cottage front like the 
Parthenon. Nothing can stop him. 

But the thrift of Cape Cod is not of that kind 
which follows fawning. Here dwells evidently an 
independent race of men, and all living at arm's 
length of each other. Even in the towns the houses 
do not touch, but stand apart. Every one has its 

separate enclosure, with plot of greensward, orchard, 
18 



410 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

and garden patch. House and grounds form a dis- 
tinct and independent establishment, leaning on no 
other for its support ; and though, unfortunately, 
there are no plank roads in these sands, yet every 
front door is approached from the street by a plank 
pathway. Nor do these people generally occupy the 
whole of their houses. They have vacant apart- 
ments, though none to let. The front rooms are all 
furnished, and shut ujj. The family live in the 
kitchen. And they can afford to do so ; for the bacli 
part of the house is large enough to accommodate 
all the members, while the other half is kept as 
neat as wax, for tea drinkings, and the use of com- 
pany. Hence, the stranger who goes stumbling- 
through the u.nlighted streets at night, may fancy 
himself in a Turkish town, or an aoul of the Cii'cas- 
sians. He can no more descry the light of a candle 
than if he were in the centre of Ethiopia. Accord- 
ingly, to stir much abroad after nightfall in these 
sti'cets filled with painted wooden posts, is to set 
maHtraps for one's self, and present the very sorest 
temptations to Providence. For, inevitably, at this 
corner you bark your shins ; at that, you break your 
neck. A Chinese lantern here would not be an un- 
meaning joke. Still, every native, doubtless, knows 
the way to his habitation in the darkest night, as well 
as a bee to its cell in the Vwq. 



CAPi: COD. 411 

And no Spaniard goes to bed earlier. He does 
his work by daylight, and economizes candles. All 
his habits are simple and natm-al. He dines on the 
stroke of noon. He takes his tea — rather weak — at 
the hour when the merchant in the city sits down to 
dinner ; and he gets up in the morning just as the 
to^vn snob is going to bed. His fare, too, is simple : 
at breakfast, fish ; at dmner, fish — fish fried, broiled, 
boiled, baked, and chowdered ! Though, probably, 
there is not one housewife in ten that has not a pie, 
or a loaf of cake, stowed away somewhere. And 
you shall nowhere eat such delectable " apple 
slump ; " nowhere such doiighnuts, scarcely even in 
Connecticut ; nowhei-e such baked clams, out of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. There is, 
also, a love of junketmg and tea drinking, when 
neighbors come together in wmter evenings, and 
when lassies assemble of an afternoon at a " quilt- 
ing," makuig the bridal bedspread with imiumerable 
stitches, and squares of white calico, upon each of 
which is written, m indelible ink, the name of the 
fair sempstress who presented it. On these occasions 
the number of hot biscuits and sweet cakes served 
up is almost mcredible ; and, the next morning after 
one, I have seen witli my own eyes a small Cape boy 
make a hearty breakfast of pound cake with plums 
in it. 



412 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

After all, life on the Ca|)e is more like holiday 
than one might sui^pose "who had never been there. 
For the men, being mostly seafaring, they do their 
work in all parts of the world rather than at home. 
The Cape Codder is omnipresent. He casts his line 
wherever there are codfish. If there is a school of 
bass or mackerel on any coast, he is after them with 
his seine. He chases whales from the southern fro- 
zen zone to the northern ; and will, some day, throw 
his harpoons in the open sea at the pole. In all the 
steamers, liners, packets, he is captain and first mate. 
On the high seas, or the coast, there is no better man 
to handle a ship. You find him in all the crack clip- 
pers ; and if a fore-and-aft schooner rims her nose 
into any strange place, ten to one there is at her helm 
a Cape Codder. He has also been in his day a fight- 
ing man. Some of oiir proudest frigates have been 
sailed by him. He Avas on the lakes in the last war 
with England, and threw up his cap there ; and as 
for privateering, it is that one among all the trades 
of which he is Jack that he likes best to turn his 
hand to. Though not much of a fist at marching on 
the land, the Cape Codder, nevertheless, Avas at Bun- 
ker Hill and Saratoga, besides having fought the 
French and Indians in the old wars, and shouldered 
arms at Quebec. 

But Avhen, having sailed all the seas, and roved 



CAPE COD. 413 

the world over, he comes back to his cot in the 
sands, the short season he sj)ends at home is a hoh- 
day. Then give him a fast horse, and his good wife 
or sweetheart by his side. He must go to see all his 
cousins. Nor does any man have so many uncles 
and aunts, and kindred of various degrees. In fact, 
nearly all the inhabitants are first cousms, or call 
themselves such. Therefore, when the mariner 
comes home, there must necessarily be a good deal 
of shaking of hands and merry making. Everybody 
must tell him the news ; and he, in return, must tell 
everybody of his adventures on sea and shore. He 
has probably seen the sea serpent — at least, a mer- 
maid, a whalfe, the elephant in his own country, or 
the Grand Mogul. Undoubtedly, the longest yarns 
are spun on Cape Cod which are spun anywhere in 
this country. And be it observed, that the Cape 
Cod man, let him go to whatever part of the woi'ld 
he may, is sure to come back. His local tastes never 
die out ; and where'er he roams, at every step away 
he drags a lengthening cable. If he run a packet 
between Boston and some other of our principal sea- 
port cities, he does not remove his family to town ; 
but, the moment he gets on shore, hies away to the 
Cape. He does not like the air of great cities, and 
cannot really feel at home anywhere that there is not 
sand under his feet, or even a little of it ruuuing 
over his shoe quarters. 



414 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

This disposition to keep holiday I could not but 
notice at the county cattle show. There was, indeed, 
not much to be seen or heard — only the farmer's old 
" Bright " and " Gelding," with his evei'lasting " gee- 
up " and " haw-tu ; " only a few pumpkins that 
might make the native mouth water a little to look 
at, a few cranberries as big as your thumb and dark 
as mahogany, which it is mischievously said the Cape 
girls stain their cheeks with ; only a show of Mexi- 
can flint cornstalks a dozen feet high, just to show 
what the Cape sand could do ; a specimen or two of 
" quilting " and domestic stocking knitting ; some 
curious attempts in worsted fine art, and even the 
beautiful vanity of cotton lace, and crocheting. 

But, notwithstanding the little to be seen, every- 
body came to see it. They came three women in a 
gig, and whole families in carryalls with tops of 
painted canvas. There were firmers in homespun, 
Quakers in drab, sailors in tarpaulins, and retired 
captains in black broadcloth. Besides a feAV great 
ladies in silks, and bonnets worn falling in the neck, 
there Avere any number of good, plain, buxom house- 
wives in their best bombazines and calicoes, most of 
them with bevies of daughters, all high rigged, in 
curls, in flounces, with petticoats trimmed with lace, 
and all their ribbons flying. I saw very pretty girls 
in swings ; and very eager youths buying jack knives. 



CAPE COD. 415 

whips with whalebone in the handle, and razors 
warranted to shave, for twenty-five cents apiece. 
Every small child's mouth was running over with 
sugar candy, every man's with tobacco, and every 
good-looking woman's Avith smiles. All — men, 
women, and children — were most busily doing noth- 
ing ; staring, and seeing nothing ; moving hither 
and thither, and going nov/here ; and all appeared to 
be excessively delighted. Whoever had no baker's 
gingerbread in his pockets, had peanuts in them ; 
and if any father of a family had neglected to stuff 
his coat tails with buns for the children at home, be 
sure his better half had not forgotten to fill her 
" working bag " with lions and elephants in cake, 
and dogs and cats in sugar. Almost every one 
seemed to have bought something, and nobody 
looked as though he had been " sold." They that 
had got rattles were tickled, and so were they who 
had only straws. And when, finally, at the close of 
the day, the brass band came down the street, play- 
ing the old tune of " The girl I left behind me," I 
remember to have said to myself, that it was the 
happiest holiday I had seen since I was in Spain. 

It is not strange that locomotive civilization 
should not yet have reached the end of the Cape ; 
and the only wonder is, that tlie railroad sliould have 
gone as far as it has before being efiectually ruu into 



416 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

the ground. At any rate, 1 reverted to the old, cast- 
off stage coach at a j^oint on the Cape very nearly 
amidships. The day being as beautiful as the last 
rose of autumn, I was naturally tempted to take a 
seat on the coach box ; and, seeing no person present 
at all resembling a driver, I waived the ceremony of 
asking leave, and straightway invited myself up. 
But as I sat there quietly looking at the different cut 
of the tails of the four horses, I was taken by sur- 
prise at seeing a small boy climb to the seat by my 
side, and gather up the reins, as if he were really 
going to drive the coach himself. I looked at the 
boy again, and thought, surely, he could not be 
turned of ten, though I afterward learned that he 
was twelve, being small for his age. And this boy, 
said I to myself, is evidently going to drive this 
coach-and-four to Orleans ! I immediately took out 
my glass, and inspected him closely. Was he Phae- 
ton ? If so, he would doubtless set the Caj^e on tire 
before getting to the first stopping place. An old 
whip he certainly was not. Was he a whip at all ? 
There he sat on the box, a boy apparently ten years 
of age, and his legs barely long enough to reach the 
footboard. By and by he encouraged his team \\^ a 
hill with his voice, for whip he had not yet taken in 
hand ; but his chirrup lind the clear, decided ring of 
a full-grown hostler. " Get along, Chandler Bob," 



CAPE COD. 417 

said he, at length, addressing the nigh Avheel horse ; 
" and you, Jaques," calling to the off leadej'. But I, 
meanwhile, had not said a word, and, in fact, had 
scarcely made up my mind what to say. " Eh, there, 
Lizzie ! what are you doing ? " called out the young 
Jehu to the rather restless mare on the nigh lead. 
Still I said nothing ; but, screwing my glass firmly 
into my right eye, looked, at intervals, sharply at the 
boy. Besides his thick buckskin gloves, there was 
nothing in his appearance in the least degree profes- 
sional. He neither wore a pea jacket, nor was he in 
his shirt sleeves. His single-breasted jacket, but- 
toned close in the neck, was a plain drab ; and 
around his neck was a clean, modest turn-over collar, 
such as is commonly worn by boys of tender age. 
" Hunter ! " he exclaimed, threateningly, and at the 
same time offering to strike the off wheeler with the 
slack of his reins. Whereupon " Hunter " mended 
his pace, and I continued my observations. The 
boy's hat was a nice felt, and of a modest color cor- 
responding with that of his dress. A bourgeois, 
well-to-do in the world, would not dress his son any 
better. And his looks were in keeping with his 
dress — his complexion being a healthy brown, almost 
an olive, but with no red in it, more like the bark of 
the rose than its flower. Being so yoixng, his fea- 
tures, of course, were not yet very definitely chis- 
18* 



418 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

died, but showed, indistinctly, the outlines of a 
future manliness. Only his eye was already perfect 
— being a large dark gray, and thickly shaded by 
long black lashes. 

" Steady, Lizzie ! " he cried, for the mare, which 
was a little gay, was still inclined to fret occasionally. 
. And now, taking down my glass, I entered into 
conversation with the yoimg expert — for such he 
was, beyond all question. The first inquiry one gen- 
erally makes of boys of this age is, " What is your 
name ? " I used a little circumlocutory politeness, 
but managed to find out that the lad's name was 
James. The second question naturally is, " How old 
are you, my boy ? " And I also contrived to get 
this information from the little man without giving 
offence. Then, as James occasionally threw out his 
foot with a sideward motion, in making his appeals 
to " Hunter," I was curious to know the reason of it. 

" Hunter," said he, " keeps an eye on me from 
behind his blinder, and whenever he sees this motion 
of the foot, he thinks I am going to kick him." 

" And how long may it be since you began to 
drive a coach ? " 

" I go to school ; but I have driven more or less 
since I was eight years old." 

" But how could you drive a coach when you 
were only eight ? " 



CAPE COD. 419 

" My fathei' began with lashing me on to the box, 
to prevent my falling off — for I conldn't then reach 
the footboard — and I drove so." 

By this time my interest in James had risen to a 
high point, and I afterward learned from others that 
this account of himself was strictly true. Should I 
ask him to take a cigar Avith me ? Plainly not. 
Here was a specimen of " Yoimg America " whose 
patriotism evidently did not consist in smoking and 
chewing. He talked familiarly with his horses, but 
did not swear at them. There was nothing of the 
vulgar stage driver about the lad, no taking on of 
airs, no slang in his language, no brag. He had not 
even the usual frolic and roguery of his years. He 
did not crack his whip — using it only to threaten the 
little vagabonds who attempted to climb up on the 
rack behind ; and there was no laughing in his eyes, 
which indicated that he was going to tip the coach 
over. His face was that of one who had taken re- 
sponsibility upon himself, and felt equal to it. It 
beamed with intelligence ; but the expression of it 
Avas firm, self-restraining, and even demure. The 
impending shadow of a coming man darkened in it 
the brightness of the schoolboy. I afterward learned 
that, for pluck, the little fellow had not his equal in 
all the country roimd. If, by chance, there was a 
horse in the stable that nobody dared drive, he 



420 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

would beg Lis father to let him do it. And, long 
before leaving the coach box, I came distinctly to the 
conclusion that James — I never should have thought 
of calling him Jimmy — ^by the time he was twenty- 
one years of age, would be " up " for Congress. For 
surely the boy who, at twelve years, can drive a four- 
in-hand, with a mettlesome " Lizzie " among them, 
will, in the course of another ten, be competent to 
manage such an ass as the sovereign people. 

So, hurrah for the Caj^e Cod boy, James ! lie 
took me into Orleans in good style, having made his 
time to a minxite ; Avith " Lizzie " only a little frothy, 
but scarcely a wet hair on either " Chandler Bob " or 
" Hunter." 

I left the Cape not without a certain feeling of 
regret. Perhaps it was because of the termination 
of the Indian summer ; and I had to exclaim : 

" Die schonen Tage in Aranjuez 
Sind nun zu Ende." 

And, possibly, the unusually neat and pretty quar- 
ters in which I had spent the last night of my joui- 
ney might have had something to do with it. The 
fact was, that, there being a press of company in the 
inn, some kind-hearted lady had surrendered the xise 
of her apartment for the accommodation of a tired 
traveller. Taking note of this on my entrance, I 



CAPE COD. 421 

should have been strongly tempted to refuse taking 
advantage of such generous hospitality, and have 
contented myself with the use of three chairs, or a 
sofa, had it not been for the lateness of the hour ; 
but, under the circiunstances, nothing else could well 
be done than to put off my shoes as quickly as pos- 
sible in such a sanctum — which I accordingly did, 
and gave them to the " boots." And when he had 
departed, the mortification of my gallantry at having 
taken possession of the room was so great, that I 
exclaimed : 

" What a pretty pickle of codfish I am in 
now ! " 

But I endeavored to persuade myself that the fair 
occupant was, at least, not a person of tender years ; 
and seeing a shoe case hanging against the wall, I 
asseverated that the shoes in it — of course, I did not 
presume to examine them — were certainly a foot 
long ; and that the hoops which, doubtless, were 
standing up in the closet, instead of being, as they 
should be, no larger than strawberry baskets when 
they first come, had been taken from one of the big- 
gest hogsheads that had ever drifted ashore on the 
Cape. These suppositions, to be sure, were very 
ungenerous, and would not have much helped to 
pacify my mind, had I not hajji^eued to notice a few 



/ 



422 TO DIXIE AND THE TROPICS. 

verses from a newspajier pinned on the wall, the con- 
cluding line of which ran as follows : 

" As we journey through life, let us live by the way." 

This seemed to hit my case pat. Yes, said I, this 
is the true philosophy of life. Especially, let a man 
on his travels live as he goes along, and sleep where 
he can, giving God thanks first, and next to woman. 
So, laying my head on the pillow, I likened myself 
to a Mungo Park, succored by the hand of woman in 
a strange land, where was none else to help him. I 
slept well. And the next morning, on opening my 
window toward the east, and seeing the dear Cape 
lying stretched out far into the sea, I gave to the 
sands my partmg benediction — not forgetting the fair 
ones who inhabit them, but Avishing them all sorts of 
good things, down even to plenty of cranberries 
wherewith to make their jjretty red cheeks still 
redder. 



THE END. 









\ 






